Odyssey is huge - the biggest of the Pease blends. It's loaded with Latakia and harmonized by exotic Orientals. Wonderful red and jet-black stoved Virginias provide a perfect counterpoint.

Notes: From GL Pease: Ever since I started smoking a pipe, I've been in love with the rich fragrance of fine Cyprian Latakia. There's something warm and comforting about it; the deep blackish brown colour, the fascinating texture of the leaf, the wonderful smells of campfires and leather. It's an assertive leaf that can be, and often is, easily overdone. If the supporting tobaccos are bold enough, though, and have enough character, something BIG can be produced that still has refinement, elegance, and balance.

Odyssey is big. There's no doubt it's loaded with Latakia, but that's much more to it. Exotic oriental tobaccos abound, and wonderful matured red and jet-black stoved Virginias provide a perfect balance, both in the tin aroma and in the flavour of the dense smoke. I worked on this for months, tuning the proportions carefully until it was exactly the blend I was after

The first match yields big puffy clouds of beautiful smoke. The flavour is bold and assertive, but still refined. The Latakia's spice is balanced by the sweetness of the Virginias, and they have a marvelous conversation, while the oriental tobaccos play Baroque quartets in the background. Or, is it belly-dancing music? If you're a Latakia lover, Odyssey will surely enthrall you.

The high percentage of dark tobaccos dictate a delicate hand when packing for best smoking.

Tin: The label says full Balkan, the term ostensibly meaning an English blend with a greater influence of oriental tobaccos predominating. The 2 1/4" circumference of this old-style tin seems specifically designed to be difficult to use, towards the bottom. Bottom of tin is stamped 051701 (May 17,2002).

Packs, lights, and burns readily. Dries in around 40 minutes, out of the can. It developes into a powdery consistency after the tin has been opened for a couple of days and frequently causes the pipe stem to get clogged.

I'm thinking that I don't get a VA signature due to the age of the tin, the VA having melded into the blend.

Room Note: Definite, smoky Latakia and herbal oriental nuttiness, medium to full, closer to full, the term tolerable being misleading, but rather, pleasing to pipers.

Strength: Surprisingly low, mild

Overall: Odyssey resets my standard for Latakia and Balkan blends. This is a 7-year old tin and I need to try a new tin for comparison. Better than Westminster, Penzance isn't even close, as good or better than Abingdon, Odyssey having a pronounced interlay of Latakia and Orientals. GLPease labels Abingdon as their fullest Balkan. From what I remember of Abingdon, this 7-year old Odyssey, a member of the Original Series, is richer in Latakia, more flavorful. Other GLPease Balkans include Charing Cross, Kensington, Caravan, and Ashbury.

The powdery consistency mentioned is really agrivating and consistently cloggs the draft hole and stem. Odyssey is not a candidate as an all-day smoke due to the potential for tongue bite, remniscent of Blackpoint and Penzance, in that respect only. As rich as the blend is in taste and aroma, it is correspondingly lacking in nicotine.

By his own admission, Greg Pease said, "Odyssey is HUGE." Truth in advertising if I have ever seen it! It reminds me of an old "Saturday Night Live" skit after President Jimmy Carter went into the reactor at Three Mile Island.

The "Guest Host" (an oxymoron) was Dick Benjamin...and he called on the late, inimitable Rodney Dangerfield to describe how "HUGE" President Carter had become after going into the contaminated area.

Rodney said, "He's so big, he could have a sleazy affair with the Holland Tunnel...I mean....HE'S BIG!!!" Sweating, as usual, Rodney loosened his tie..."I mean...he's BIG! He's so big...."

Comedy aside...Odyssey is a Balkan, albeit with Scottish touches. It is NOT an English; the effect is too powerful for such a classification. There is little subtlty or nuance here. Those looking for such are advised to pick another of Greg's many delicious blends. Currently, Westminster would be my counsel.

I purchased a can of Odyssey concurrent with Westminster. It was just as fresh...all of 3-weeks-old. At first I thought, "Ugh!" Boy, was I wrong! Either this blend has changed...or the components...or my tastebuds...or the "tincture of time" has worked its wonders...OR the crop of the constituents has varied due to climate...source...processing. I could go on forever about all that plays into a blend, but I won't.

Suffice it to say that Odyssey is a deep, rich, full, satisfying tobacco for those who want a left-to-the-jaw of Latakia, but who want to retain consciousness to enjoy the entire bowlful. The black Virginias mellow the effect...and the Orientals provide a stimulus to maintain consciousness. Even way-too-fresh, this is a damned good smoke!

If you loved the REAL Rattray's Black Mallory...or kindred tobaccos...you will be beguiled by Odyssey.

This is a well-tempered Balkan...A Latakiaphile's Dream-Come-True. I am soon to go in-search of some aged stuff!

Charring light brings forth flavors of wood, rich earth, leather and salty sulfuric accents. To start, the smoke is soft, smooth, silky and altogether not too spicy. The forwardness of the latakia is nicely tempered by the other tobaccos. This creates a wide bold rich flavor that seems to blossom on the palate. There is a sweetness embedded deep within the flavor but it is oh-so-slight and is more of a bottom note in the wide spectrum of musty, moldy, smoked peat flavors. It's similar to the role sweetness plays in a dry Islay malt. A subdued phenolic sweetness found in the undercurrent of the softer bottom-end flavors and nothing more.

As the bowl progresses rye, burnt popcorn & strong Danish style licorice are some of the more prominent flavors I notice. The smoke is firm, complex and pungent, yet somehow still soft and fragrant. Nasal exhales and French inhale provides an intriguing blue cheese like flavor and aroma. And like a strong blue, Odyssey remains full, sharp and flavorful but still soft and creamy. Any typical latakia edges are softened out nicely by the orientals & Virginia's and even through to the mid- smoke point the mouth-feel is still gentle and quite frankly, nothing short of "pillowy." When pushed Odyssey gets spicier & smokier, and pine pitch flavors accompany the heavy earthy overtones.

The thing that I love best about this mixture is that it has an absolutely amazing end smoke which reveals a slight Indian spice like flavor. Layered within this is a zippy pepperiness that forms on tip of the tongue. I cannot convey how much I enjoy riding out the end bowl portion of this mixture. There is no bite whatsoever, only complex dark subtleties and nutty, semi-sweet wood smoke flavors. There's even a wee-little- bit of a fresh evergreen aroma I find similar to the scent of standard green Palmolive. Altogether this is an incredible tobacco mixture, and an absolute pleasure to smoke on a cool autumn or winter evening.

Odyssey stays lit out of tin okay, but does require a few relights both at the beginning and along the way. I would be somewhat reluctant to dry this tobacco, only because the flavors are so impressive without any dry time that I would not want to risk losing any complexities to moisture loss. With a bit of practice and with being careful not to tamp too much or pack too firmly, Odyssey is well behaved, user friendly and burns nicely for a big latakia. This is an excellent full flavored blend. Lovely stuff. Highly Recommended.

This is the other Balkan on my "to try" list, aside from Larry's Blend. Actually, it's the third. Well, not really. I forgot that I picked up a Tinderbox bulk Balkan not too long ago, which wasn't exactly a genre defining specimen. I settled for it after having scoured the local tobacco shops for a can of Odyssey. With no luck, I finally broke down and ordered online, which I should have done from the very beginning.

But I've been giving Old Larry and Mr. Odyssey here some sparring time, and I should say I love them both. That might not be saying much, considering I'd probably give a bar of soap four stars if I was compelled to smoke the thing. Though all kidding aside, Odyssey has earned its marks. There's a big Latakia flavor here that's nicely balanced by the addition of the varying Oriental and Virginias. Larry's blend is damn near overkill on the Latakia, which even still, I very much enjoy. But Odyssey is far smoother, in my opinion, which makes it more ideal for routine smokes.

My freshly opened tin was pretty damp. Damper than I can remember any other Pease blend I've cracked open. I've come to enjoy a nice, crisp tobacco leaf, by some chance coincidence not too long ago. It would be that I'd spend a great deal of time fretting over the moisture level of my tobacco, going great lengths to rehydrate blends that I felt had gone too dry. As it turns out, I plan on airing this sucker out for a few hours to really get it going.

Compared to Larry's blend, you'll see the brighter leaf jump out at you, which I tend to think makes for a more nuanced and delicate blend. I can see Greg being especially finicky about Odyssey back during the "conceptional" phase...micromanaging every last element to his taste. He really seems to set the bar for the rest of us, and not the other way around. The guy's a master at that sort of thing. As far as the marketing is concerned..oh, I won't go there.

I know some call this overbearing, but I would disagree. I'm not getting a nicotine kill on Odyssey, and I'm not complaining. What's great is the flavor, and the new territory I've been able to cover going the Balkan road. My poor London Mixture has been getting jealous. I'll have to pay closer attention to her...when this is all done.

Based on the order in which I've smoked various GLP blends rather than the order in which they were made, I have this picture of Greg Pease in my head.

As he is creating his blends, he's dabbling and puffing and testing and laughing an evil laugh, saying "If I put a pinch of this in the blend, it'll taste like this midway through 1/8th of the bowl and a bit of that will alter the 58th puff and then a dash of that, and it'll take the blend in a whole new direction! This is going to be zealously and meticulously complex stuff... mwaa-haa-haaa!".

It usually takes me awhile to figure out Greg's blends. I'm usually happy when I do. But he's finally made one that is based not on complexity but on fantastic taste from top to bottom. This is it. He's finally given me a chance to relax! I'm not spending too much time studying the smoke nor am I obsessing about a lack of flavor.

Odyssey is the finest tasting latakia blend I've ever smoked. It replaces Lancers Slices in that regard, and thankfully Greg left out LS's tendency to make my tongue feel grainy. Odyssey is a bold taste that lasts the entire bowl, changing only to create an ebb and flow of that incredible flavor. I find almost no complexity to this blend, a trait that Greg would undoubtedly disagree with and cause him to wonder about my ability to discern tobacco quality. But there is nothing wrong with creating a blend that simply tastes fantastic and doesn't conjure up images of spice racks, plums and figs, etc. I'm actually relieved that he came up with this one! Latakia heavy, to be sure, but possibly the perfect interplay of all the tobaccos, the combination creating a sublime smoking experience for those times that I just want something that is consistent, top to bottom.

My other two favorite GLP blends are Meridian, which is a moderately complex blend (and that is its strength) and Charing Cross, which is about as much of a flavor burst as I can stand AND it's complex to the extreme. This one is for when I don't want my tobacco to dictate my mood but for when my mood dictates my tobacco, and I want a fantastic, mouth-filling smoke that I don't have to ponder.

Greg, I've read that you prefer complex tobaccos. I wish I could say I'm sorry that I don't find this one to be so, but I think complexity would spoil it for me. More of this heading to my cellar! Well done!

Ok, I think I have this figured out. In the one year's aging, the latakia really suborned itself to the virginias in the sealed tin. When the tin was freshly opened, I was unable to smell the latakia. After the tin had been opened (plastic lid left on, however) for 24 hours it seems that the latakia has once again revealed itself. My latest bowls have been smokes of an entirely, and wonderful, character. As good as Odyssey is when it's fresh, it only gets better with age. What a relief.

//Second review 04/22/07 below://

I don't know what happened. I cellared a few tins of Odyssey specifically for aging purposes and opened today, 22 April 2007, a 2 oz. tin which had been packed and sealed on 21 April 2006. On opening the tin, the first thing I noticed was the complete lack of distinctive latakia scent. None, zilch, nada. I hope I haven't aged a bunch of Odyssey tins in which the blender forgot the latakia. I went ahead and loaded up a large Cavicchi used exclusively for balkan/english blends. On light-up I could faintly taste the virginias but thus far into the smoke it tastes/behaves as if there were perique in this blend rather than latakia. I wonder if I bought a mis-labled tin of Haddos Delight? Dang... and I was really, I mean really looking forward to trying this tobacco with a year's age in the tin. I'll probably go ahead and finish the tin, but I'm mighty disappointed. I love latakia blends, especially those with some age on them. Thus far the smokes from this tin are distinctively mediocre.

//Original review 10/09/06 below://

I've never had the strength of will to allow a tin of Odyssey to age beyond three months and can only imagine how good it would be with a couple of years or more. Odyssey, for me, is like Esoterica's Penzance ramped up about by about 50 percent. I learned it must be packed rather loosely or it will require frequent relights. I have been smoking it exclusively in an Ardor Ninfea smooth bent and, typically, smoke only on those days (weekends) when I have the full leisure to really pay attention to its nuances. For me, it is spicy, creamy, zesty and sweet - these tastes/sensations start with the very first light and pick up intensity in the last half of the bowl. Typically, I'll have to use a pipe cleaner about one third of the way into the smoke - once it's had its gurgle it settles down until the end. Its end always comes too quickly, leaving nothing but dry gray ash in the bottom of pipe. Very highly recommended. Some day, when I have the extra funds, I hope to buy a full 8 oz. tin of this and put it away where I can forget about it for at least five years.

There is indeed no shortage of flavor to be found in this Balkan powerhouse. Yet, strong as it is, Odyssey is smooth rather than harsh. Its smoothness belies the actual strength and a large amount of restraint is indicated to keep one from greedily puffing like a smokestack to the extreme detriment of one's tongue. When smoked slowly and with care, this blend delivers an exceptional richness of flavor. Smoky latakia, creamy orientals, and sweet virginias all intermingle to provide a sublime flavor that is the peer of any Balkan or English blend.

My wife happens to love the room note that Odyssey evokes and never fails to comment, "I really like that one." In this respect I am lucky that she likes the smell of latakia blends; however, Odyssey and Margate are the only two that I have found so far which possess an aroma that she seems to especially enjoy.

I recommended this world-class blend to those who are seeking a full Balkan or strong English experience. It's a bit hard on my palatte though. As much as I love the powerhouse of flavor, try as I might to smoke this slowly, I invariably scorch the dickens out of my tongue and gums when I smoke this. Margate is the same way with me so maybe I just can't quite tolerate so much latakia yet. It's really good and a flavor monster, but I must bow down and cry "Uncle," because this stuff leaves my mouth feeling like I've been chewing on a campfire for hours after I smoke it.

I'd recommend getting the tin first because I ordered an 8oz bag and it took me over six months to finish it. This is ideal for a nightcap latakia bomb but a bowl of this a day is about as much as I can tolerate. Test your tongue against Odyssey and see if you are man enough for this full Balkan overload of intense flavor.

First off, I should disclose to the reader that my preferences in pipe tobacco lean toward English and Balkan blends made with well aged tobaccos, devoid of additives/toppings/casings of any kind. Nonetheless, as I have gotten older I have found (much to my delight) that the occasional well made "hybrid" or lightly cased aromatic can have a special charm, and I also now appreciate pure Virginias of a certain quality more than I once did. In other words, I hereby report my biases while claiming to have an open palate with respect to other blend categories, which I also enjoy from time to time.

Odyssey is a rare treat indeed, in the sense that I had almost given up on ever finding anything quite like it. From the moment I received my first tin in March 2005 (tin dated 2002), I felt my pulse quicken. The tin aroma on first opening was not particularly distinct among Balkans, yet there was "something afoot" from the start. I poured some Odyssey onto the flap of my trifold tobacco pouch and examined it closely under bright lighting. What I saw looked promising indeed: an abundance of dark brownish-black tobacco (presumably the Cyprian Latakia which forms the heart and soul of this blend) accompanied by variably sized pieces of black, dark red and tan to pale yellow Virginias and Orientals.

This tobacco requires only a light touch when packing, owing to it's rather chunky consistency of un-rubbed out flake and small strands, which form the right packing density almost by filling the pipe bowl incrementally with intermittent tapping of the bowl to settle the tobacco. A minimum of compression is all that's needed.

I found that this tobacco expresses it's fullest flavor potential in larger pipes. The most rewarding experience was accomplished with several larger Dunhill Shells including group 6 and HT XL size bowls along with equivalently sized pipes from other carvers.

Every bowl of Odyssey has been sublime to date, and I'm far from smoking my last! It is a full tobacco with the wonderful attributes of Cyprian Latakia including the typical woodsy flavor underscored by subtle layers of greater complexity, with a collage of sweet and tangy tones resulting from this special Latakia admixed with just the right amount of Virginias and Orientals. Unlike many blends containing large proportions of Latakia, Odyssey can be smoked from start to finish in a large bowl without noticeable nicotine overload. Another pipeful is often warranted following the first (which always seems to end too quickly for me, no matter how long the pipeful actually lasted).

This tobacco yields a nearly pure white ash and smokes very dry. A well lit bowl produces copious amounts of white smoke, adding to the overall enjoyment. I cannot comment on the room note with full accuracy (since I'm biased well in favor of this blend and cannot be impartial), but my wife tells me it has a "presence", which means it probably creates a signature Latakia smell, and might be said, politely, to be pungent. The room odor does dissipate quite rapidly though; I never detect any lingering Latakia ghosts when I enter the smoking room the next morning.

I am enthralled by Odyssey and smoke it regularly; for me it could easily be an all day smoke if I could smoke all day. Others may find it more suitable for an evening or after dinner pipe. After the first 2 oz. tin was more than half gone, I ordered several more tins for smoking and cellaring. I plan on smoking Odyssey as one of my "primary" blends for as long as it's available. I hope it outlasts me!

Congratulations, Mr. Pease; you have made this pipe smoker extremely happy with this fantastic Balkan blend! A true triumph benefitting the Balkan lover!

Harsh and boring as usual by G L Pease. What's the deal? Can't you buy decent tobacco in the US? I got rather carried away by all the rave reviews of Pease' products and both many of his mixtures. I was so unimpressed. When I compare them to Dunhill, Sam Gawith, Esoterica, it all seems like a big scam. Stay away. Buy English, Danish or German tobacco. The know what they are doing.

While I write this, please take into consideration that I am an extremely new pipe smoker of about only three months.

For me, this is a blend where I either love it, or I hate it... all from the same 8oz tin date stamped on the bottom as 9/05.

I love the smell of the actual tin itself, and I'll stick my nose there for a couple minutes just to savor the scent. Yet the smoking experience is quite different.

For me, this is one of those tobaccos that loves to bite. I have yet to smoke this once where it didn't. I've tried it in a brier, a cob, and even in a ceramic pipe. I've packed it tight, loose, and everything in between. Every single time, I get bit really hard, which then removes my ability to taste anything.

It is impossible for me to keep this lit unless I keep sucking and sucking, which results in more tongue bite.

The room aroma is quite pleasant though. It reminds me of a campfire with just a hint of spice.

So, if I despise it so much, why do I keep smoking it and why did I give it 2 stars instead of just 1? Because on the rare occasion where I can smoke it without a hard bite, I just love it!

I think the majority of my problems lay in the fact that I'm quite inexperienced. I have a hunch that to really enjoy Odyssey, you have to know what you're doing. This is not a tobacco for the new smoker.

Interesting comments about this blend in this section. First, if you don't like latakia blends or balkans, you aren't going to like Odyssey. No chance. I get a kick out of the reviewers who essentially know they aren't going to like a style of tobacco, and then say it might be good if YOU like that style, but it's nothing they would like...one star. I would never review an aromatic because it's not my cup of tea, and would not really feel qualified to give a proper evaluation of an aromatic blend. Each to their own, but it's just something that I had to get off my chest.

There is nothing surprising or controversial about Odyssey. It is exactly how Greg describes it on the label. A big, full Balkan blend, that reminds me of the full English tobacco blends of the past.

This is a dark tobacco in the tin, but a wonderful, round tasting tobacco in the pipe. It is rare indeed to find a blend that is this big, but doesn't bite or overwhelm your senses at some point. Odyssey is indeed very refined.

Some of Greg's blends are exceedingly bland to my taste. Odyssey is full of flavor, yet subtle. The latakia is the star here, but the supporting cast props it up dutifully.

If you enjoy exhaling your smoke through your nose, Odyssey won't disappoint if you enjoy this style of tobacco. I get a magnificent display of cocoa, leather, a light cinammon quality...almost as if freshly baked goods were in the house.

I think this is a wonderful blend, and highly recommend it to you if you enjoy this genre.

I?ve been smoking pipes off and on since 1979, and I?ve tried many an English/Balkan blend in that time. I?ve had occasion to smoke Balkan Sobranie #759 from the generosity of friends. My own conclusion is the GLP Odyssey is simple the best Balkan mixture available today. Oh yes, you can spend hundreds of dollars per tin acquiring Balkan Sobranie #759, and it is a wonderful tobacco, however, it is not ?readily available? and is in my opinion no better than Odyssey anyway.

Odyssey has become the ?standard? by which I judge all other Balkans, and there are so many great ones from which to choose (many of them GLP).

Appearance: A very appealing mixture of light dark browns and nearly black tobaccos in a rough ribbon cut.

Tin aroma: WOW! This blend has everything in prefect balance and yet very ?full? tin aroma. The Orientals are sharp in the nose, the Latakia is rich, deep and smoky and the Virginias are sweet and deep. This tobacco is very satisfying just smelling the tin. I detect leather and smoke, and deep sour cherry/fig/date fruitiness from the stoved Virginias. I don?t detect any Cavendish or other ?extender tobaccos? and everything smells exactly as it should.

Odyssey is absolutely perfect moisture for me straight from the tin (or bag, as I purchase it in 8 ounce bags now) requiring only my careful un-divided attention in packing. This is not because it is difficult to pack (it isn?t) rather, that it deserves my full attention. I find that I need to use a lighter hand (even employing the ?Frank method?) than I do with other blends while packing. This lighter hand seems to bring out even more of this blend?s astonishing subtleties.

Upon lighting, I?m greeted with everything at once, bold in every detail, yet not assaulted. I don?t have to think much about identifying the individual components, they stand out willingly. The Latakia yielding its smoky leathery presence, the Orientals granting the familiar tingle in the throat and nose, and the deep Virginias carrying the other two along in high and low pallet sensations and granting them a sweetness in perfect proportion to the ends of the flavor spectrum. Odyssey lights very easily and I can often finish a bowl with a single light.

Mid Bowl: Somewhere in the middle of the middle, it happens; the complexity of flavors changes and builds. The assertiveness of each component begins to show, and nearly every blessed mouthful of smoke tastes slightly different than the last. At this point I have to pay closer attention to my technique, because it is very easy to begin chugging like a freight train and ruin everything. Generally I opt for a much slower pace and draw in as I?m exhaling the last puff nasally, then rest for sometimes fully 10 long seconds before drawing again. By doing so, I experience this tobacco in two pallet regions simultaneously, adding to its complexity. The slip stream smoke is also wonderful to inhale nasally, where the Orientals live.

Home Stretch: These flavors are all HUGE and just how Mr. Pease does all this while keeping things so refined is beyond my understanding. This blend is like a fine aged Merlot, bold, scintillating even, without ever being harsh. When compared with every other Balkan blend I?ve ever tasted, Odyssey beats them all in depth, fullness, richness and complexity without ever overstating any single aspect. The final third develops along the same lines as initially tasted upon lighting, building on every puff so far. Odyssey just continues to build until suddenly, almost without warning it goes out. I often tamp it all down fairly firmly and strike another match; there is no blast of ashy flavor as with many others, just a very strong smoky ?bonus smoke? that is not to be missed for anything in this world.

Supplemental Notes: I have yet to be able to age this tobacco beyond 18 months, I can?t resist the temptation to open and smoke it. Odyssey is my favorite Balkan blend without reservation, and my second favorite tobacco blend of all time. It is my opinion that Mr. Greg Pease is today?s greatest living blender. Rating for those interested in numbers **

Let me begin by saying that I do not normally load up with latakia blends, especially ones with the reputation this one has of being BIG in latakia flavor. Well, I admit to being surprised at how smooth and tasty this blend is. It is big, but in a palate pleasing sort of way with no harshness or dreaded latakia aftertaste. It burned quite cool (most latakia laden blends do), and I wanted another bowl immediately--very unusual for me.

This is not a blend I'd want to wake up to in the mornings. Of course, there is no accounting for taste and the next reviewer indicates he likes to wake up to this stuff. Be forwarned though, if you are going to smoke it indoors, pick a night (or morning) when the missus is away. (Be sure to use lots of air freshener and keep the windows open while smoking, or your liable to get caught!)

Wow, this is incredible weed. Pease makes some outstanding blends, but this is my favorite. I would love to be able to give some context with aged Odyssey, but I cant seem to cellar any because I just end up smoking it! This is directly in my wheelhouse, so I cant summon enough superlatives to describe my love of this blend. Its strong, its fulfilling, its packed with all the Lat and vitamin N that I crave at night after dinner. Odyssey is like having a big bloody steak after eating salad for a month. This is in my all time top three. Probably a toss up between this and Nightcap for my favorite blends of all time. To address the one complaint that some have, yes it does have some quirks in the pipe. It takes some time to figure out how to handle Odyssey. Like driving a sports car with a stick, you need to play around with this one a bit. I admittedly tend to want to smoke this like a coal fired locomotive because I love the strength and taste. It takes some restraint. I also have found that I like it best in a large billiard with a nice big open bowl. Not a good fit for a tall narrow bowl, in my opinion. Once you find the pipes in your collection that it likes, and you get your rhythm with this, it will blow your mind. Its the crown of the line from a virtuoso tobacco wizard. Its real man baccy. It will put hair on your chest, make you grow your beard out, and feel the urge to go out and hunt and forage. Or just sit on your porch and philosophize. Sorry, I try to write reviews that are more useful and tangible, but my bias is just too strong with this one. I could go on and on, but I am loading up a big fat Comoy's Grand Slam with Odyssey for an hour of bliss before bed. Enjoy Gents.

I`ve been cellaring a tin of Odissey from march 2013. Opened it two days ago and can`t stop smoking it!!.

Tin notes are clearly defined by Latakia content, which is powerful but not overwhelming. Smells of leather and campfire comes to my mind. The first puffs are simply sublime, with the latakia singing loud and clear. Some sweetness coming from Virginias (?) gives the mixture a great balance, while orientals are playing always in a second role, but coming to front occasionally. I agree with some reviewers this is not a lat bomb, but has considerable quantities of a great quality latakia. No so easy to keep it lit; had to relight several times.

The second half of the bowl becomes more powerfull and enjoyable. This is a blend to be by your own, just in company of your thoughts. A serious tobacco to have a while aside the family. Just you, your pipe, and this GREAT BLEND!!!.

I must say i`m in love with this blend. I tried before MALTESE FALCON and loved too. But this is by far my number one Pease`s blend.

My tin was dated 2006. I almost bought a fresh one for comparison, because age tends to tame Lat blends.

My tobacco was dry to the point of crispy. I rehydrated for 90 minutes prior to jarring.

Odyssey is full. It is the fullest Lat blend I've smoked with the exception of Captain Earle's Ten Russians, Ten Russians being too full for me to enjoy. Odyssey (aged anyway) doesn't quite reach that level. I do enjoy this tobacco, but I can only imagine how full it is fresh. Remember, this tin was 5 years old. A fresh tin certainly must be even more intense than Ten Russians, which means that this is a Lat bomb and a half, and only the most ardent Latakiaphiles need apply.

Aside from the Latakia barrage, I get a very good quality blend here. I get a sour and tangy Oriental presence that is not overwhelmed by the Latakia. I always find this element in a Lat blend compelling, and I seek out and cellar tobaccos that have it. I don't find the Virginia steps forward here, but it has very big Latakia and Oriental components to contend with.

This is a blend for those who like big, full Lat blends. Lots of Latakia, and a great heaping scoop of delicious Orientals. This, to me, is a blend for nights when I question if my palate is up to anything complex yet I want something flavorful. This is not complex. It is overt, big and delicious. However, if at five years it is this full, I am sure I would find this tobacco unsmokable fresh.

I'll also add that I've never smoked a tobacco that I had to work so hard to keep lit.

10January2012 Have to add a star to bring this one up to 4. This blend grows on you in a hurry, and it always provides a great smoke. You don't have to worry about body chemistry of the alignment of the heavens. At first blush it's incredibly full, but it only takes a few bowls before that impression goes away and you simply crave its big, delicious flavors. Another tobacco I buy in 16oz tins in case of apocalypse.

When I first tried this I was not very impressed. I think that's because at first I found it impossible to keep lit. Once I learned to use 3-4 matches for the initial light that problem was gone. Before that first tin was finished, Odyssey had become my absolute favorite tobacco.

I like this best when I'm hungry, instead of after a big meal in the evening, as is more standard for the style. I think when someone is hungry the taste buds search harder for subtle flavors, and that is exactly the realm where Odyssey lies. Not all bowls I've had are the same. That's one mystery about Odyssey, how it changes even through 2 oz. Not that its ever bad- it's a 4 star at WORST. But every once in awhile I get a bowl of this which goes beyond words, almost an experience not of this world. When this happens I get flavors which are unusual (or unheard of) for tobacco, and yet are 100% natural. A hint of black licorice is definitely there, and even sea salt, like the smell of the ocean. Maybe the best way to describe the flavor of this would be to say, that if you were to compare tobacco to scotch, Odyssey is without question from the Isle of Islay.

It is impossible to get this to bite.. the absolute smoothest, coolest smoke I've ever had. I can inhale and feel nothing, and I've never smoked cigarettes. You could say this tobacco is dangerously good. Try pressing your nose right against the briar and smell the wood while the pipe is lit. The whiff of the tobacco burning right out of the top of the bowl and the warm briar is very nice.

WOW !! I took delivery of my first tin of Odyssey less than a week ago, and cutting right to the chase, this may be the best blend I have ever smoked, period, IMHO. From the tin aroma to the easy packing and burning characteristics to the wonderfully full and smooth and complex flavors while smoking, this may end up being my favorite blend (so far, anyway). The tobacco I am smoking is from a 2 ouncer that was tinned less than a month ago. The moisure content is perfect and with one match for a charring light and only one or two more, it burns cleanly all the way to the heel. At first bowl I was fooled by the incredibly smooth and creamy and cool burning characteristics of this smoke and did not fully realize just how "strong" this blend is. I guess I would call it a "full Balkan".

Along with enjoying the worlds' best pipe tobaccos, listening to female vocalists is a passion of mine. I simply cannot help but compare this blend to the voice of my all-time favorite female singer, Karen Carpenter. Like Karens' voice, this tobacco blend is deep and complex, rich and full yet smooth and creamy, powerful yet subtle and mellow, forthright yet concealing so much that is only revealed to those who probe endlessly, and always completely satisfying. I can't get enough of it, and will be buying more of it to cellar. I can hardly wait to age some of this stuff. I can only imagine the flavor(s) it will have when aged. I give this blend FOUR STARS in capital letters, but only because that's as many as they'll let me give it. If you are a lover of English and/or Balkan blends and have never tried this Odyssey blend, do yourself a great favor, and get your hands on some as quickly as you can. I doubt you will be disappointed. GOOD SMOKING !!

Having smoked newer tins of Odyssey, I was inspired to review it. The tin I smoke from now is 2 years old, and definitely different from that first tin I had that was about 2 weeks old, that I bought in a beautiful little shop near Kansas City. That tall-sided tin I bought there proved a sweet and complex smoke, but really only indicated the life this tobacco could have... and by the way, I am smoking it in the tiny group 1 Dunhill I smoked it in originally. When I cracked my first tin of this extraordinary smoke, I noticed an aroma I hadn't felt for some years... I packed the tiny bowl, and drew gently, knowing the tiny 1/8" walls ouldn't take more than that. I was greated with flowery smells I hadn't smelt in at least 20 years. I was amazed the way the tobacco burned... the pipe didn't heat up, and finished the bowl with no dottle. I continued to smoke Odyssey, and found it a blend of choice over many. I sit here and smoke this same little Dunhill that I smoked that first bowl in, and there is one difference. The age.

I pulled the ring on the top of the tin and smelt that special aroma once again. It smelled EXACTLY the same. I loaded a bowl of this 2-year-old stuff... in the same pipe I originally tried it in... and lit... it was amazing to taste...so much like when I had tasted it a few years ago.. but different. The top had come ove and the bottom increased slightly... but the middle tones have definitely come to speak.

I would invite you to go see your tobacconist and buy 2 cans... on for now and one for later. Two years really does it for this regal blend.

Finally, a real quality balkan blend that is not just another latakia dump of inferior quality. And that is what I think has been the primary problem with english blends for more than the past ten years, poor quality latakia flooding the market in volume. The english blends on whole today are not as good as in the past. So much of this crap latakia taste nothing more than like soot with no real character and some poor bastards can't get enough of it. This blend is very well balanced and refined. The latikia has real quality taste that imparts a salty sensation on the taste buds. It reminded me of Balkan Sobranie of yesteryear in that regards. The dark stoved virginias add lite sweatness, round out the blend and tie everything together. Orientals play smaller harmonious role. Despite the more aromatic and robust qualities of oriental and latakia tobacco, those dark stove virginias are the real secrete to this blend, I think. They provide the foundation for the other virtuoso quality of condimental leaf to sing but yet, are there themselves. On minor issue is the cut of some of the ingedients are a little too wide which can impede an even burn but thats' small patatoes. A supurlative english blend, among the best on the market today.

I have been smoking this blend since it came out, so thats about 9-10 tins. It is wonderful. It does not have the acrid flavor that turned me off of Caravan, but instead rewards one with a beautiful "Wagnerian" symphony of flavor. Smoky Latakia, its there, sweet and fragrant oriental, its there, virginia, its there. All in one can! My only warning is that the flavor is so rich that I can only smoke one or two bowls per day, otherwise I can not taste anything else. Not that it is hot, no not at all, but rather it is full in complexity of flavor. Update: 07-22-04 Since the introduction of the "classic series" by Greg, this blend has been overshadowed by "Charing Cross" and "Abingdon" IMO and therefore, after my cellar stash is gone, I doubt I will purchase any more. I recently opened a tin that was about 2 1/2 years old and it was delicious, but the later blends still outshine this one. The draw backs of improving your craft...hmm

Tin Aroma: Deep and sweet, the earthy tones are what I immediately notice, but following closely on their heels is a natural sweet, syrupy aroma that can only come from stoved Virginia tobacco.

Physical Characteristics: Does Greg Pease make an ugly tobacco? Every blend of his that I have tried (that's all of them for those of you keeping score), have been visually stunning. Odyssey is no exception; being a study in contrasts. The short, light leaf, the longer jet black ribbons, the dusky earthy Latakia, and sweet, syrupy Virginias, all held together by the Oriental varietals. Odyssey fairly pours itself into the pipe, and does not fight packing in the least. It lights immediately and pleasantly, burning eveny and slowly away to a fine white ash.

Notes: Sweet and smoky all at once, there are depths to this tobacco that my meager smoking sample (1lb so far) cannot suffice to plumb it. Immediately I was taken by the earthy warmth of the Latakia, and was content to marvel at the skillful way it was the star, without overpowering. Then, a tin or two later, I noticed that without the sweet, caramel Virginias, the Latakia would simply have been too much, and the blend would have been monochromatic. Another tin brought the realisation that a simple Latakia/Virginia blend could never be like this, no matter what the skill of the blender, and I mavelled at the selection of precisely the right Orientals to fill in the cracks and round off the edges. I smoked another tin and marvelled at the way that these elements did not compete, as they do in so many blends, first one shining, then the next, but instead worked together, to provide, in my opinion, a smoke bigger than the sum of it's parts.

Verdict: Stop the presses, we have a winner! Ashton's Celebrated Sovereign has been dethroned as my all time favorite tobacco. Buy it!

Oh my God, it is like smoking pure Latakia. Above all I want to say that I appreciate Pease and I like his mixtures. Always high quality tobacco. Pease blends are a guarantee. But in this case Latakia taste is really strong, overwhelming and for me it’s impossible to detect the different nuances of Virginia and Oriental tobaccos. If you like an English mixture with a very very high Latakia content this is certainly your tobacco. But in my opinion the Latakia content is really excessive. In my personal system rating (from 1 to 10) my score is 7 and two stars.

Finally found my best experience with this blend. I got a free sample and it is a little on the dry side. However, still extremely smokable. I loved it tonight in my gourd calabash. Smokey, slightly spicy, rich Balkan with hints of black licorice. Easy on the nicotine, and so complex. I don't remember the first pipe I tried it in, but it came across as too aggressive at first and not as relaxing. Tonight, totally relaxing smoke in the calabash. Will try again in another pipe and will update if it gets aggressive again. My sample had quite a few gnarly stems in there tho that I picked out.

I'm not going to add or contradict other good reviews, so my added comments would be..... Like GL Pease says….its Latakia BOLD. But surprisingly, not on the first light. In the tin the Latakia strikes you right in the face (which I don’t care as I like Latakia), but the moment you light, the softest creamiest balanced Latakia / Oriental / Virginia tobacco blend comes through with even a hint of sweetness as an afterthought. A complex yet satisfying smoke. Throughout the bowl the hint of sweetness stayed with you.

I am not one to normally go for a full English blend, but I really like this one. It is heavy on the lat, but there is a great balance to it that makes this a fantastic change up for me from time to time.

It is as smoky as one would expect with the lat content, but it does not overwhelm the tastebuds leaving one with campfire tongue. It rather has an exotic type of sweetness that is likely coming from great balance of all the elements. The sweetness is not like a Presbyterian or Squadron Leader or other Virginia dominant English blends. It is more of an incense type of taste that only comes from orientals used wisely.

This is the ultimate English blend.Period.Not only offers the most at fresh state,but gets smoother and round over the years.I bought 5 tins of 8 oz at October 2007 (production seal August 2007) and open each of them every second year till now (2009,2011,2013 etc...).You cannot find more complex mixture nowhere.Perfect in all characteristics of a a fine blend.Similar only to the old Baalbek.Pure pleasure-no more words needed...

I returned to pipe smoking recently after 4 years of pause, and did it with locally purchased aromatic junk. Where I live, you find only that kind of tobacco. Not only in Bulgaria where I am, but in the whole Balkan peninsula at all. After a week of smoking aros, I was desperate for a Latakia hit, but USPS delivery from US takes 10 days at least. When I received a package with some nice stuff, I was jumping in the air. I just grabbed the first tin, and it happened to be the Odyssey. First puffs of the false lit and the wonderful incense like aroma of Latakia put me in the real mood. I didn't like it, I loved it. I finished the tin hungry for that wonderful Latakia and even enjoyed the aftertaste. I know this review isn't much relevant since I smoked it after a week of torture with aromatics, but anyway, too much Latakia? There isn't such thing. Full Lat smoke is always a winner. I give this 4 stars. I will order some more, and reach for it every once in a while.

This tobacco is one I have been smoking now for a few years. I ordered it based on the excellent reviews on this sight and found at first it was very difficult for me to get a handle on. The flavor was excellent, the aroma was excellent. There were still some problems. It wouldn't stay lit without a great amount of effort and I wasn't getting much complexity from it either. After putting some time in the cellar on it and taking my time with it (this smoke must be sipped not chugged)I found this tobacco to have much more to it than the Latakia bomb it has been labled. If you like Latakia alot but still want something besides Latakia flavor try it you won't be disappointed. Your wife may not appreciate the room note but that won't be an issue. I highly recommend this BIG Pease blend. It's worth taking the time to get to know.

OK, I like latakia a lot, but I don't like a LOT of latakia. To my mind the "BIG O" from GLP is way over the top. But at least I now know that my lat threshold lies somewhere to the south of Odyssey. Currently, in GLP blends, right around Maltese Falcon. Latkia is supposed to be a "condiment" tobacco, kinda like mustard. But I don't slather a half-bottle of mustard on a bratwurst and pretend I'm eating bratwurst.

My first bowl from a fresh tin was a disaster. Dried out a bowl-full for about an hour and lit up. The only "complexity" here was the number of places in my head experiencing pain and discomfort. Coated tongue, sore throat, runny nose. Made perfectly good whiskey taste like molten licorice. But to be fair, I did put the open tin back on the shelf for a couple of months and tried again. This time the pain was gone, the lat had mellowed somewhat, and the smoke had smoothed out considerably. There are definitely other component tobaccos in this blend but I can't really discern what they are. It's just kind of a muddle... with latakia. Perhaps I should age it for 5 years and see what happens. I don't age tobaccos. If I did I'd have to see something in a "young" blend that would make me wait years to try to achieve some sublimity. Odyssey ain't it. Too much latakia is too much latakia.

I know there are latakia bombardiers that think the world of this stuff and you know who you are. Also some out there who haven't tried this yet. Be my guest. I just want to let the un-latakia initiated out there know that it would be wiser to "sneak up" on Odyssey through a whole host of lighter fare that are out there, including some very nice blends from G.L. Pease, that you might find more compelling.

Update: So it's been several more months "on the shelf" and things are definitely mellowing out. We all learn things as we "age" too. Upgrading my rating to 3 stars. Gotta give GLP credit for blending a pretty good heavy hitter English here. Yep, it's still a lat bomb but a more smooth lat bomb. To my mind it's not a "balkan" but a real heavy-on-the-Latakia English. To me a good balkan has enough latakia to "season" a smoke but the lat needs to sit back from time to time, sort of let the "waters part" and let the orientals, VAs, etc come forward and do their thing. They do try here but the lat never takes a back seat. Always with the smokiness and too much of it. Perhaps more time on the shelf.....I will continue to "age" my 2oz tin, put it up on my shelf next to my tin of C&D Star Of The East Flake (another lat-heavy smoke, both labelled "for occassional use only". Neither of these are bad blends. Just too much Latakia for me, for general consumption. I'll smoke these occassionally. I will smoke a lot more GLP Charing Cross and Maltese Falcon (both of which I find very smokable with a short amount of air and dry time). Might even have a go at some Abingdon. And if the mood should strike me I might even put a tin or two of Odyssey back for a couple of years and forget about 'em. Who knows what might develop.

Aroma: More campfire-smoky in the jar than Abingdon, even though we've established that Abingdon has more Latakia. Don't know what it is about this blend, but it's darker, smokier and richer than Abingdon. I expect darker because the Virginias are stoved, but perhaps that adds to the overall “smokiness” of the blend too, a characteristic I normally associate only with Latakia.

Appearance: A finer ribbon than Abingdon. Well, Abingdon really isn't a ribbon at all. And actually Odyssey is more like a cut-up flake. A pseudo-ribbon. A ribbon poser. The shorter, stubbier, not-as-handsome cousin of the classic curly smooth ribbon. It's like little sticks, cut up short and thin, busted up a bit, like it was soaked in liquid nitrogen, dropped, and busted into shards, which makes it easier to load and pack than Abingdon. It looks kinda like Lancer's Slices except with the addition of some red leaf. The Latakia and the black stoved combine to make it at least 80 to 90% black.

Flavor: Smoky. Again, a flavor I normally associate with Latakia, and which seems to make this more smoky than Abingdon. If I blind tested the two, I would surely peg Odyssey as having more Latakia, but that's not the case according to Mr. Pease. The age of my relative samples could have something to do with it, as well as the proportions of the Orientals and Virginias too. For example, even if there was less Latakia than in Abingdon, but there were also less Orientals with a higher percentage of Virginia, then the Latakia could overpower the smaller percentage of Orientals and make the blend seem smokier. But this, as in many other areas of my life, is total speculation. However, it does seem quite clear to my taste buds that this blend has a lower percentage of Orientals than Abingdon. And I like that!

Yes, I am a Latakia Hound. Among my favorites are Commonwealth, SG Balkan Flake and Lancer's Slices which, to my knowledge, are all made from only Virginias and Cyprian Latakia. Odyssey, however, has the smokiness I love in those blends, but with the added interest of Oriental tobaccos “belly dancing” in the background (Greg Pease's words, not mine!). He also states “If you're a Latakia lover, Odyssey will surely enthrall you.” Yup, he's right. I like this better than Abingdon.

I found myself relighting more often than with many tobaccos. It's not at all wet, in fact my 8 oz. tin dated 2007 was quite dry when I opened it (grabbed it off the shelf at Cigar and Tabac in K.C. a couple months ago). Can't figure that one out, but a very recent thread discussed this same problem. It's not to the point of being a nuisance, so it won't affect my opinion about it at all. It also smokes a bit hotter than Abingdon.

The first two-thirds of the bowl are relatively consistent, a big Latakia blend with a noticeable Oriental presence that always stays in the background and even fades as the bowl progresses. There is the sense of some Virginia sweetness present, but the actual Virginia flavors are lost to the Latakia, especially in the second half as the overall flavor gets more and more pungent. Sipping, as usual, really brings out the flavors, but this also allowed mine to go out, therefore the relights. Upon relighting, there was a big Oriental blast, then it settled down once again into its regular form. No gurgling during the entire smoke, and didn't use a single pipe cleaner.

The last 15 to 20% is hardcore (in a good way). This is where it lives up to the adjectives like “full” and “big.” Like the last two inches of a really good cigar, Odyssey gets serious at this point. If you don't like strong, then stay away or dump it out before arriving here - the journey to this point will have been worth it. But if you're the type that likes a double espresso after you've finished your big garlicky Italian dinner at 11:00 p.m., then you'll want to persevere to the very bottom of the bowl, where you're left with only a very dark to black-colored ash.

Pease says he worked for months on the proportions in Odyssey, and I would say it paid off. Any more Latakia, and it would totally overpower the rest of the blend. Any more Orientals, and it would be difficult to distinguish from Abingdon (except for the stoved leaf). Any less Orientals, and they would totally fade into the background. With more Virginias, there wouldn't be enough room for the Latakia and Orientals to play. Yes, I'd say his work in the lab paid off handsomely. Four stars, and one rung higher than Abingdon IMHO. I want to smoke this while sitting around the campfire at Stinson Beach with some dear friends, a bottle of 1994 Dow's Vintage Port and a guitar.

Before I tried Odyssey, I was smoking a blend from my local pipe shop containing 50% 1-Q. But one day the owner popped open a tin of Odyssey for us to try, and being a relatively new pipe smoker (smoking for about a year and a half at that point in time) I decided to go for it as it can't hurt to try a new blend. And since then, I've not looked back.

The cut is ribbon - which I prefer - and the tobacco is dark, mixing rich browns with hints of red and black into a color quite unique to itself. And when I smell the tobacco I am greeted with a slightly sweet scent reminiscent of an old leather jacket, broken in by years of wear yet promising even more years still.

When I load Odyssey into a pipe, I fill it loosely to the top, tamp it down lightly and without force, then fill it to top, tamp it down again, and finally overfill and tamp it down evenly with the rim of the bowl. It does take a few lights to get it going, but it isn't anything astronomically terrible. I just make sure that I have three matches instead of two or a lighter present. The reason for Odyssey taking longer to light is because it is an extremely slow-burning tobacco. I can literally fill up my Ser Jacopo and smoke it without break for almost two full hours; Squadron Leader in the same pipe will smoke about 30-40 minutes less time.

I don't think that any tobacco blend is perfect, but when it comes to Latakia-heavy blends Odyssey is about as close to perfect as is humanly possible. The smoke dances around on my tongue, giving me hints of old leather and spices from afar. The Latakia - as said on the tin - is a huge part of Odyssey. It gives this blend a deepness that in itself could be explored endlessly, but there is so much more to it than just Latakia. The Orientals are also huge, adding extra spice and life to this blend. But the most important part of Odyssey is what ties the Latakia and Oriental tobaccos together. Mr. Pease chose to use red and black Virginias to give a smoothness to Odyssey that a yellow Virginia just could not provide. It's the velvety touch that softens the edges of what might otherwise be an overpowering blend. And in the end, this is by far my favorite fall and winter smoke.

This is my first Pease blend so expectations were pretty high, and I may have to review this again later to be fair. If you were to believe word for word the flowery tin description of this and other Pease blends you would come to the conclusion that mr Pease is god's gift to pipe smoker's. While I don't believe everything I read, I was hooked by such descriptive flourishes as - 'exotic oriental tobaccos weave in and out, dancing delicately like Dervishes in the billowy clouds of fragrant smoke' - hmmm how poetic. The problem with words is they can be very misleading.. For example, this is considered one of Pease's 'biggest blends'.. It is said on the tin to be bold and assertive yet eminently refined.. wow that really covers everything.. So excitement was running high for me, I was dying to try this delectable mixture.. My only previous Balkan experience was Sasieni and I was expecting this to blow that one out of the water with its full rich flavor.. When I finally got to light this stuff up I was surprised by how subdued it was.. There was nothing assertive about it. I was getting background notes of oriental and latakia... and if I really tried i could make out the virginia.. but this tobacco overall behaved very strangely in the bowl and was not at all as defined as I hoped it would be.. The flavors were there but there was a certain flatness to the smoke.. It was as if the tobacco was challenging me to be bold and assertive with it - and not the other way around.. Make no mistake there is a lot of good quality within this blend.. but it did not grab me the way sasieni did.. and the Dervishes were simply whispers - nothing to exciting. I really do like subtlety, but if there is not a deffinitive statement going on all the subtlety is lost.. So I will come back to this blend for sure... but for now I am not jumping for joy over the delicate nuances.

edit.. this is a fussy tobacco.. but one thing improves it greatly.. dry it out! it seems dry right out of the tin.. but somehow the extra exposure to oxygen does help it. It still doesn't live up to expectations but it is a lot better over time.

another edit.. I would just like people to take my review with a grain of salt.. as I have heard from many sources that the pease blends differ from batch to batch.. maybe i got a bad batch.. so take this review in context.. i would also like to add that I am an admirer of consistency so i probably won't take chances with buying more tins.. but hey you might want to give it a try so - so do try it.

I find this to be intriguing and absolutley one of the best flavor/ power building smokes ever.

It starts off very tasty and each puff gains more of the overall character of the flavors.

It is loaded with latakia but as the label states there is much more to the story. The va's are blended with a heavy hand in this one also with the orientals slipping through in the background.

The tin aroma is not really an indicator of what to expect in flavor from the smoke, how decieving. This smokes so nicely- forget the tin aroma. Smells a little like a twangy VA barbecue sauce, Smells more like another reviewer said he found westminster to smell like a can of freshly opened tennis balls, but to me with hints of the stuff thay add to propane gas so it can be smelled. Luckily this fades after opening and settles down. Also my tin is 3+ years old and sat in the local cigar shop so long the label and lid are yellow.

This is not even close to what I would consider a Balkan. I find this to be a great english. Not sweet but very well thought out.

Highly reccomended. I guess I am in the Pease Corps now. They are becoming all I smoke. The man just knows what he is doing- much respect to his talent and sense of taste.

Update: I am taking back one star due to the difficulty of keeping this lit and the fact that it is VERY pipe picky. Still a good smoke. Just not my #1.

I got a couple of tins of this along with some other American blended tobaccos I ordered a couple of years ago, and only just got round to trying it.

Having seen Mr Pease's website, I had high expectations- he waxes lyrical about his blending, and he seems to have a crowd of similarly poetic fans who believe him to be Gods' gift to blending. So he can talk the talk- can he walk the walk?

At first, I wasn't so impressed. The first few bowls started out very good, but then deteriorated about halfway through into a monotonous tonguebite that drowned all flavour, and required a lot of relights. However, with a little drying, it burns all the way through and I've had some outstanding smokes with it.

As with all tobaccos, and especially Latakia, it smokes best outdoors, the cool air brings out the best flavour from it. If smoked peacefully it burns for a long time and the flavor develops somewhat through the bowl. Plenty of latakia, as I like, the orientals seem quite astringent, and the virginia just gives a hint of sweetness. It doesn't have the fermented, yeasty smell of my favourite Dunhills, but you do get that nice salty tang from time to time, and plenty of campfire smokiness. Only a hint of resiny flavours, but it's nice and earthy, in a good way. There isn't any pattern to the flavour development through the bowl- it's different every time, I suppose depending on what got packed in where. As it has got even drier, I get some cigar like notes from time to time, something I notice with a few Latakia blends when they dry out, and in this one the astringency of the orientals is accentuated, giving it some tea like flavours- particularly like China tea, Oolong and Pu'erh, quite woody and dry. However, with drying, the bite has returned a bit, so it must be smoked carefully.

All in all, a very interesting blend, there's a lot to it. But I won't wax poetical about it just yet- it isn't Nightcap.

I really cannot add any more accolades to GL Pease or this blend. So I will give a personal testimony (pardon me)

BACKGROUND: My first job in high school was retail in a mall tobacco store in the Wash. DC area. With a novice palate sampling everything that burned in the store, I finally discovered Latakia. Being a boy scout and used to wood fires when camping, I fell in love with this mysterious smoke. Smoking the store's house blend (very similar to BS white label) grew tiresome and to the urging of the more experienced palates in the shop, I experimented with tinned tobacco. The assistant manager smoked 759 and when accepted my first bowlful I feel in love (with the blend). Well, I was already in love but you know. Working my way through college among the three-store chain, I grew to love VA flakes and moved away from the Balkan blends. Over the years I sadly, I watched as the State Express Royal Navy Cut, Balkan Sobranie Flake and their mixtures disappear forever.

Thirty years later I have opened my first tin of Odyssey Due to the fine and accurate reviews of you good people. The first waft as I opened the tin hit my olfactory senses and triggered synoptic memories from long ago. The color of the leaf and cut is supreme. I do seem to remember that with respect to 759, the Latakia was from Macedonia and was coupled with Smyrna, not Yenidje. Yenidje actually made my mouth dry and was the coupled leaf in the BS White label.

I strongly encourage anyone who fancies a full-bodied, well-rounded Balkan smoke to grab a few cans. It was cold last night on the deck at nine o'clock and the wife was shutting house down saying I was crazy. Yup, bundled up I still had a 1/3 of a bowl to go and I could not put it down.

This would be too strong for me, a flake smoker (the brighter the VA the better), as an all day smoke. Kind of like finishing cutting an acre of grass in late July at 1:00 PM, then drinking a room temp Guinness. However, as a nightcap, it does not get any better than this!

I've smoked my way through a few Pease blends so far -- Abingdon, Raven's Wing, Robusto, and Renaissance. Of those, Abingdon promises to be a full Balkan. It delivers (see my review). The obvious comparison would be Odyssey, also billed as a full Balkan. Interestingly, the two are so dissimilar that I can't imagine not having both on hand.

Odyssey lets you know up front that Latakia has rented an entire floor at the tobacco hotel. Great start. But it also is balanced enough that I can easily detect the Orientals and Virginias in the mix while sniffing the tin. Fantastic. The scent is rich and somewhat sweet, and it delivers subtle notes of earthy goodness and dark chocolate. Put simply: It smells huge.

Packing the tobac requires restraint. Too heavy a thumb, particularly in the first 2/3 loaded into the bowl, ruins the smoke. It's a meaty mixture.

Odyssey is a slow smoker, but that doesn't mean you can't puff the hell out of it. It won't bite. It might leave a funny (or horrid) taste in your mouth, but what quick-and-hot smoke won't?

The heft of this blend supports a solid and even burn all the way down. It may smoke a bit wet out of the can, so either letting it dry out on a tray or in the pipe bowl for a while should help. Smoking this stuff on the wet side will not only prolong the duration of the smoke, but also may leave some beefy dottle behind.

The flavors are gigantic. The first third seemed dominated by the Latakia but with plenty of sweetness from the Virginias. End of first third and through the second ushers in the full complexity of the blend, much like its smell upon charring light. Given a chance to surface numerous times, the Orientals play well with the other components and offer up some awesome tastes. The final third -- more like the middle of the final third -- yields again to the Latakia, still lets the smoker know the sweet Virginias are there, and sometimes allows the Orientals to stand out.

I can't help but give Odyssey my highest praise. It's a well-made, complex, and satisfying blend for the lover of full Balkans.

Odyssey is a big, bold Balkan. In appearance, it?s dark with light brown highlights and the occasional yellow fleck. Beautifully cut, as is the Pease tradition. The tin aroma is Latakia, first and foremost. Take a bit of time though, and you will notice a full Oriental scent. Due to the cut, I found that Odyssey loaded easily into anything I chose to smoke it in.

Initially, I found that I could char the top, relight, and smoke to the bottom with maybe one or two relights. But Odyssey is best enjoyed when savored slowly, and smoked right on the edge of going out. The already complex flavor palette increases dramatically at this point. So if you really want to get everything this blend has to offer, keep a good supply of matches on hand. If relights are timely, there is no hint of harshness.

As to room note, well, this is a big Balkan? Don?t expect cheers from people who aren?t fans of big Balkans.

As generous as the portion of Latakia is, it doesn?t overpower the Oriental, and the Va can even be found peeking out once in a while. This isn?t to say that the Latakia is weak, just that the Oriental is quite stout. Odyssey has all the complexity of taste we have come to expect from a GLP blend, but in this case, the nuances aren?t like Daffodils interspersed with Daises ? they?re more on the order of Peterbilts interspersed with Kenworths, with the occasional locomotive passing through. There is nothing delicate or dainty about this blend. If Balkans are your thing, you must try this one.

For the occasional ?odyssey?, I?ll go with this blend for the epic voyage. But for more frequent travels, I?ll stick with flights of fancy on the wing of a raven.

Every journey, even one so great as to be called an odyssey, must begin with a single step. As a certain professor has told us, this first step is most often small, seemingly insignificant. However, when one looks down from the crest of a mountain or looks back across the open sea, having just planted his flag into the unfamiliar ground, the memory of that first step reveals it to be a moment of glorious birth. Any previous expectations lay smoldering in the back of the psyche, as the brilliant knowledge that is experience dances in the afterglow of his final steps, his final footprints still steaming in the ground. G.L. Pease ?Odyssey?, a Full Balkan Mixture, boasts a copious lathering of latakia, along with a perfect balance of of black stoved and matured red virginias. As the virgin flame envelopes this dusky blend, any conventional understanding of what this mixture might entail slowly drifts away into a cumulus dream.

Stepping into this blend after a trial run at Cousin?s Smoke Shop in Cleveland, crown of the Rustbelt, I was expecting to be struck by the raw potency of the mixture. Dusting my bowl with trembling hands, I felt a chill of intimidation brought upon by the proprietor?s warning that this was indeed a serious smoke, not for beginners, not by any stretch of the imagination. Being a tenderfoot, I figured I would just try and light the damned thing, then let the smoke take me where it will. This was indeed the correct strategy. It came on with a deep, yet lighthearted aroma, a song to cast away to. In this moment of birth, G.L. Pease understood the importance of stating his theme, providing an exposition to his epic journey. The first smoke was shared with a friend on a snowy Cleveland Saturday, and of course, was pleasantly overwhelming. The real test, however, was the second, solitary smoke, the ?personal odyssey?.

I had propped a green plaid lawn chair in my backyard, which overlooked an acre of Parma forest and the Cleveland skyline in the distance, with television towers sparkling in between. As I lowered the flame towards my briar, I tried to blot out the sounds of traffic in the distance. I didn?t realize I could trust G.L. Pease and his Odyssey to take care of this problem for me. As the pipe took light, I soaked in the melody of this bold theme. I waited patiently for that moment when the theme would dissipate into the raw improvisation that would become my odyssey. Just as I feared this blend would just ?run the changes?, I tasted the richness of the latakia coupled with a depth of alternating sweetness and bitterness that lifted the sails and lowered my ship upon a pillow of winds. As my senses of smell and taste were increasingly heightened at a steady pace, my mind relaxed and let my head perform simply as an axis around which heavenly clouds of smoke could navigate. Just as I had hoped, the smoke burned true. Each intake was richer in flavor, and as this flew me above dizzying landscapes, the strong nicotine content stayed my body and retained my focus. The clouds grew around me, and I began to sense an almond aftertaste as I dreamily followed the glow of t.v. tower lights in between snow covered branches. This taste heightened with every intake, even as the latakia became more pronounced.

G.L. Pease promotes Oriental tobaccos that ?dance delicately in dervishes.? I couldn?t help but recall Coltrane?s ?India? of the 1961 Vanguard performance. The first strains of improv are a mystery, but through intensely focused minutes, solar winds carry all beings who see the path. When Dolphy enters, harshness and dissonance are no longer applicable, a message is a message is a message. Thus is an Odyssey. My view becomes heightened, the snow glistens, and the world of technology blends true with the world of nature. Not as I would have it, but true nonetheless. Depth exists now not in my vision of the forest, but in swirling tastes and dark aromas. Slinking back into the green stitches, I taste battle in this moment, possibly Henry Morgan taking Antigua with the King?s fleet, but with the next intake recalling the loss of the Roman Empire.

Such is a blend, that requires no relights, no break in the journey. An Odyssey is an odyssey is an odyssey. Hesitant, I explored the depths of the cosmos, while a complete Balkan mix took over my internal cosmos, and through this symbiotic relationship, all the problems of the universe were solved. As Mingus had said, ?Betta get hit in yo? soul!? Say true. I had let the smoke take me where it would, and I have not yet returned.

In 40 years of pipe smoking this is the first time I have felt the need to do a review. I have only had a chance to smoke 1 bowl of this, but wanted to get my first impressions out. This may be the BEST blend, of any kind, I have ever smoked. The first impression upon opening was just as expected for a heavily latakia blend. Mostly dark with some medium brown cut thrown in. Not too different from some other oriental blends (FMOTT, Caravan, Bombay Extra). The odor from the tin was also heavily latakia. I loaded up a Ser Jacopo Hawkbill I have dedicated to orientals. It packed easily & I lit up. Stop the presses!! This stuff is not like any other blend I have ever tried. It starts off immediately with the expected latakia hit, but also has a subtle sweetness to go along. The latakia does not overpower the Virginias or oriental leaf blended in. I find that smoking this cool, as if it were all Virginia, gives an unbelievable number of layers to the flavor. Half way down it is still showing additional layers of flavor while "mellowing" out a bit more. The last 1/3 of the bowl is still as interesting as the first. My LSW reports a "that's nice" room note. I am not used to writing reviews of tobacco blends, but hope I have conveyed my delight with this blend. If latakia blends have any interest, at all, for you I highly recommend you give this a try. Greg has hit one out of the park with Odyssey.

A heavy,very heavy,load of latakia,full flavour and cool smoking.I like it certainly but I don´t feel nothing special.It´s just like my personal mixture of 3 parts of pure Latakia from Mc Connell and 1 part of Gawith Hogarth 12.I repeat myself ,really good but neither complex nor subtle.Fits to the fanatical Lat lover,as this humble smoker.Virginias are fine but sincerely I don´t find orientals.Mr.Pease makes better blends.

A fantasy of flavors, to appreciate this blend you must smoke it very slow and tranquil, a lots of different colors will be one by one coming to your palate and make you travel to differents universes of pleasure. It's a complex blend with many surprises, sometimes takes time to push out all the class that it has. Odyssey is not another English Latakia blend, is much more than that.

This is a Balkan blend with a nice amount of Latakia in it. The tobacco is ribbon cut. Little more than a half of it is black, the remaining leaves are dark brown and a very little amount of bright leaves. The tin note is rich & oily. I freshly opened a new tin and was happy to find it to be the right humidity. Later I was proven to be wrong and this tobacco would had needed some time to breathe and dry prior to smoking :) This little excess humidity made me smoke it a bit faster, required some re-lights and gave me a little tongue bite.

On the palate and in the nose I felt pine tree, forest honey, burnt brown sugar, some woodsy-ness. The Latakia is dominant but not overpowering - accompanied by Oriental and little Virginia. The latter one had been solved into the blend and hard to find at times. The taste is also creamy and nutty. It is full but not overwhelming.

By mid-bowl it gets more spicy: hints of mint, pepper, little lemon balm, sandalwood. In the last part of the bowl I was surprised to taste chocolate and ginger and some forest honey again.

Nicotine-wise this blend is medium. I felt just a little N-kick to know that it was tobacco I was smoking.

This blend reminds me of Balkan Sasieni but is evidently richer and much more interesting. If I were a sailor and having a shipload of this good stuff I would gladly sail around the Mediterranean Sea for years :)

I received a .5 oz sample of this with my last TAD order. I have several Pease blends in the cellar I have not opened yet. This being the first blend from GL Pease I have tried I was excited having heard and read so many reviews.

It arrived at a great moisture level only requiring very minimal relights. The initial light brings a very pleasant if not strong taste of latakia. The latakia stays at the forefront for most of the bowl. The orientals pop up at times very strong to just complementing. I thoroughly enjoyed this tobacco and will be purchasing a tin or three for the cellar.

I did notice that if puffed too hard the orientals takeover and tend to sting my nose like too much perique.

A sweet addition to your Balkan collection. Not a bad alternative to Bakan Saseini, but a bit different too. As others have noticed, the sweetness evolves toward a spiciness as the bowl is finished. Not as strong as I'd like, but this is typical of Balkans, except C&D Super Balkan (my favorite Balkan), which packs a bit of a punch if you can tolerate Perique.

Odyssey is a nice quality blend that is easy to light and smoke hard, right down to ash at the bottom of the bowl. Pack loose and tamp as you smoke for best burn and flavor. This is mostly a mild+ N level, but the flavor is a real pleasure. I'm going to put a pinch of cubed burley in my next bowl, just to bring the strength up a bit.

OK this blend confirms it....... I'm a Latakia lover. This blend has the most latakia in it of any blend I have ever tried. If you can handle that much this blend is wonderful. This blend has flavor on tap! It builds as you burn through the bowl and is good from start to finish. If your not ready for it this blend can be a punch in the mouth and a slap in the senses, but if you sit back and give it a gentle steady pace it is a long, flavorful, adventure. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't give this one 4 stars.

This one hit me with a smokey right cross to the chin as I hit it with the flame. The latakia was overwhelming and the smoke was dense and chewy, surrounding my head and inundating my senses. I had to wrestle my mind to submission and remind myself of just needing to get through the bowl and see what's what. I'm definitely glad I did just that. This is a strong full blown latakia blend, no doubt, but it is also one that knows to tune it down and introduce the Virginias and the Orientals after a short Lat Bomb (Boom!). All three were wonderfully in concert and I found this to be quite complex with excellent flavor nuances. There is a good amount of Vit. N here, but not overwhelming at all. It burned so cleanly in my pipe and a as testament to the high quality leaf had my mouth feeling unburdened by any oppressive post smoke aftertaste. This blend will be putting me to bed many nights, and probably responsible for a fair share of morning eye openings. Love this stuff.

I should start by saying that I don't think Pease makes a bad blend. Not a single one I've tasted has been horrible. There's always a question of preference, but I don't think he releases bad tobaccoes. Every one is obviously quality leaf and an honest expression of what he believes to be a quality smoking experience. As an almost exclusively English/Balkan smoking guy, I even find Haddo's Delight, Union Square and Jack Knife Plug to have their merits.

Having said that, I wasn't amazed by Odyssey. It's good. It's massively dosed with lovely, rich latakia. There are just enough Orientals to keep it from being boring. The Va's are almost a suggestion, a hint of a component. If you want a no-nonsense, smokey, woodsy tobacco that is large and relatively nimble for its size, this blend is for you.

However, as a fan of Pease's other latakia-laden creations, I found that Odyssey fell short of the greatness of Abingdon, which is as full but more classically structured. It lacked the up-front, exotic richness of Charing Cross's Orientals. And it could not match the finesse and interplay of componets which I found so compelling in Lagonda. And perhaps this is Odyssey's strength - it's single- minded delivery of Cyprian Lat flavor in a blend which enables you to actually finish the whole bowl without dying of tedium.

I might buy another tin someday... I found it more palatable than some of the Captain Earle blends, or C and D's Pirate Kake. But I'll definitely revisit some old favorites by Pease or try another one first.

The Latakia definitely takes front and center in this one, though it takes a little bit for the tastes to fully develop. At peak flavor, it tastes like quite an Odyssey indeed! I typically do not smoke blends with as much Latakia as this one, and I warn that if you are not used to blends of this nature, you might want to work your way up.

The first third of the bowl yields a very decent blend of Latakia per Oriental. From my tastes so far, not much show from the stoved Virginias, which stay in mid background. I have a tradition of setting the bowl down every few relights to refresh my nose and buds, and for the tastes to develop further. Picking up the bowl after my first rest about 2/3's through, I noticed the flavors were amplified almost ten fold. Felt the stoved Virginia presence then, and even more of the Orientals. Though the flavor that was amped the most was the Latakia. The taste was still amazingly complex, I would picture it like a blazing cloth of many colors, but the Latakia was reaching my upper tolerance. Nearly had a quality like the fumes from a strong herbal remedy.

Thus I leave this with 3/4 stars for now, but I'll age it for a bit and try it in a few more of my pipes. Good chance the Latakia will lose some of its strength. If there's a drastic change, I'll update the review.

This is a tough review to write as it is on a 50g tin from December of 2006. But I will give it a shot. I have not smoked Odyssey in several years and never with that amount of age. Time has done this blend wonders. I remember this being a blend that the Latakia was the focus. The tobacco I smoked has mellowed and been rounded out with age. It still has the smokey latakia taste, but you can get a bit of the VA sweetness and the undertone of the oriental. Sometimes I wonder if Pease knows that age is going to make certain good tobaccos great! We all know age is not kind to all blends. With this being said, buy some, cellar it and revisit in 5-6 years!

This one didn't thrill me from the get-go. So I put my 8oz tin in the basement and a few months later tried it again. To my surprise, the tobacco mellowed out immensely after sitting a while. Usually, for me, the tobaccos are the same or worse after sitting (aging?).

Many compare this to Margate. Here's the difference for me. Margate starts out as a lightly flavored, almost boring smoke. The flavor builds and builds to the bottom of the bowl and the nicotine kick is very noticeable. Odyssey starts with a fairly tasty flavor, and the flavor stays consistent throughout the smoke. Less of a nicotine kick.

First attempt was with a fresh tin 5 years ago. Opened it up, loaded it, lit it, gagged, put it in a jar and forgot about it. What was this Pease character thinking? That was Terrible! I had only smoked VA's and VaPers at that point. Moved on to explore Orientals, like Red Rapparee with just a touch of latakia, PCCA, lots of the newer McClelland blends like Wilderness, Syrian Star, so many great blends out in the last few years. Eventually found and loved Compton's Balkan and Macedonian, some Meridian, Maltese Falcon, edging towards an appreciation for heavier latakia blends. Got to Magnum Opus right on time and can't get enough. Looking forward to trying Lagonda. Five years and 270 blends after my first puff of Odyssey, found some tins of John Cotton's No. 1 and loved it. A friend with lots of years at this remarked that Cotton's No. 1 was similar to Odyssey. What? So I dug up the jar of Odyssey (from an '05 tin). Loaded, lit it and…. WOW! What a GREAT smoke!!! The moral of the story is that all that you read in this TR bible; it ain't necessarily so. To get the best out of a natural tobacco you have to be ready for its particular flavors, strength, know how to pack it, determine the correct moisture, pair it with the right pipe, figure out it's puff cadence, and, for sure, let it age in the tin for at least a few years and then have some weeks, or better, months, of air time in a mason jar. And then, select the blend to match the time of day, meal, mood, drink, environment and be aware of it's individual impact on your particular biochemical state which means that the only relevant decision about how good it is relates to how much you like it for you. At that point, there are several Holy Grails. It is, after all, an art (lovable work) to really appreciate the pipe. If, on the other hand, you want a quick fix right out of the tin, either get a nic patch or some PA and a cob, which might not be a bad plan while you're waiting for your high end tobaccos to age ? .... I think the Pease blends are made by a connoisseur for connoisseurs, mostly; same deal with Comptons, Esoterica, Rattray's, Dunhills (old), and lots of other natural tobaccos. So when you pop a lid like I did and find crap, think about it, you may have just missed a Holy Grail. And if you post an ignorant or self serving opinion, might further delay somebody from finding their Holy Grail.

Anyone that follows my reviews of Pease blends will find a common theme in that Greg's blend's IMHO need to be aged more than other brands.(Although there are exceptions). My first meeting with Odyssey fell into that group for me. This review is based on a four year old tin. The first surprise for me was how moist this tobacco was and how long it took to dry out. This is not typical of Pease blends which normally dry quickly after rubbing out. The appearence of the tobacco in the tin is that of a Latakia bomb, and it is somewhat, but the Orientals balence things off nicely. There is an underlying sweetness and I find this to be a cool burning smoke. The flavor is full, but for me, the strength sits firmly at medium. The nic content is not overpowering. My tastes lean toward English blends with a bit less Latakia so this blend is a nice change of pace, but won't be part of the regular rotation. I think that those that like Penzance with enjoy this blend, however I would opt for Penzance given the choice. Recommended.

While I generally prefer a light to medium English blend that has some perique added, I can enjoy a great Balkan when I taste one. Odyssey is a great Balkan. I've read it described as a lat bomb, and while it has plenty of latakia, the spicy yet buttery Orientals are what stand out to me. I seem to get the spiciness in the first half of the bowl and the buttery, somewhat bitter flavors, in the second half. There is a little sweetness, but it's just a counter-point to enhance the effects of the latakia and Orientals.

Odyssey is a "Tale of Two Tobaccos", one for the first half of the bowl and another for the second. Upon lighting this tobacco you get a nice rich hit of latakia with a spice that starts to build and build until your entire mouth is on fire. Not like a tongue bite but more like you are eating a jalapeno. I actually had to put my pipe down and allow sensation to come back. Upon relighting, I went through the same experience . Then magically about halfway down this great Oriental/Va taste took over. The heat was gone, the flavor was fantastic, I wanted more. Now all I have to do is find someone who will smoke the 1st half of the bowl for me so I can enjoy this tobacco. It is interesting, when looking at the other reviews, how this tobacco can be so loved and so hated. Now I know. I'm smoking some Westminster right now and it doesn't have the heat, but it doesn't have the second half flavor either.

Update 10/24/11- My tin now has about ten months of cellaring and has shown good improvement. 80% of the heat is no longer with this blend and although I couldn't smoke this all day ( as much as I want too)I can enjoy the pipeful. Two things about GLP blends, they all seem to have a very nice smokieness ( Latakia) and they all need to age 9-12 months in order to mellow them out. I believe I like this better than Westminster because it has a higher Latakia content that is out front and is not as muted. As far as an outfront Latakia with Oriental support there are others I like better, such Dan's "Midnight Ride".

Updated 11/16/11- I've now reached the last 1/3 of the tin, another month of age and oxygen and this has turned into a masterpiece. Perfect balance between latakia and Orientals ,no heat, full flavor. This has kicked "Midnight Ride" to the back of the cellar. YOU NEED TO AGE THIS, THE END.

Updated 6/11/12- This is a great tobacco, however, it does have a spice that can be hot if you're doing multi bowls. I compared this to Nightcap and Pirate Kake and I like those better for diffrent reasons. This, still gets 4 stars but only with a tin that has a year of age, otherwise the spice is too much, this blend is HUGE.

I'm smoking this blend right now. I got an ounce of it at the C&D factory when I made a visit there this summer in NC. Nice guys over there, if you ever get a chance to check it out you should. Anyhow, this is a great blend, I fully recommend it! While I can't comment on the tin note since I only had a baggie this go round, I will say it has a nice english room note and goes great with brisk or just slightly chilly nights and a cup of tea! I really enjoy the way that the Latakia and Orientals mingle in this blend, and I'm just starting to pick out the VA's as well. I is slightly bitey for an English, with sharp flavor and an undertone of sweetness. This one starts out very smooth for me with the savory leather smoke, but then about a third of the way down it takes on that sharp spice with a bit of sweet that I mentioned. I look forward to purchasing a tin or two of this in the future! Another great blend from Pease, I'm never disappointed when I get around to trying another from one of his collections!

Odyssey is a beautiful mix of red and black Virginias, a healthy dose of Cyprian Latakia, and Orientals, which, in the tin, provides a nice mottling of golds, browns, and blacks. The tin aroma is quite pleasant, with scents of the woods, leather, and sweet Virginias. Like most Pease blends, the moisture level of Odyssey is just about perfect. The charring light brings clouds of thick, luxurious smoke in which the latakia immediately asserts its presence. With the initial light, that presence remains, and mingles with the sweet tones of the fine Virginias and the delightful, woodsy spice of the Orientals. The smoke is cool, smooth, and extremely pleasant. By mid-bowl, the fullness of the flavor becomes something special. Cyprian latakia, in my opinion, provides a different flavor than the Syrian type I often prefer, and in this blend it's used to perfection. Yet it never overpowers the sweetness of the Virginias, not hides the spice of the Orientals. Rather, the three types of tobacco play together like an orchestra, playing upon one another, accenting one another, and filling in the spaces often left blank by each individual type. The end of the bowl provides a fine finish. The flavor continues to build, rather than to fade, become acrid, or just tiresome. In fact, this is a tobacco which disappoints only in that eventually the bowl will be finished. Were I to find a real complaint about the blend it would have to be that I found it somewhat difficult to keep lit, though each relight reminded me of why I was enjoying it so much. Pease creates fine blends of tobacco, and I will readily admit to being an impartial judge of them. That said, I am a Virginia smoker, and not a really huge latakia fan. But like some of his other English blends, Odyssey (really a Balkan) will continue to entice me. Coming from a Virginia smoker, I can't imagine a higher compliment for a tobacco.

Reading through the reviews I thought this is a weed you either love or you loathe. So I purchased this with a number of other Latakia blends with the thought that I would hopefully find a tin of something that met my expectations (my dunhill stash being almost depleted and still not shipping in the US). So now I have about 8 different blends from different brands, but I am gratified that my hunt is over and I have found something to love...immensely gratified. This is a great smoke. The smoke is rich and smooth with a great mouthfeel. It has complexity and reaches its peak about 3/4 of the way through the bowl. I had no trouble keeping it lit and used only two matches. When it peaks its awesome. I was lucky to fix it up with a pipe that likes it the first time out.

Now it isnt flawless. It does have some slight tendencies to wander around and underperform a little. It also took a trip into bitter leather territory but I wasn't displeased with that since it was really an authentic leather taste. Chewed on rawhide as a kid? But it was a really short trip so no harm no foul. It got right back on track and really came together. This was 9 stars out of 10 and I had no reservations making it a highly recommended mixture. This is a huge smoky redmeat meal of a smoke!

Very nice deep resonant smoke with many overtones as the bowl progresses. Latakia dominates, as it should in this blend, but the sweetness of the high quality Virginias and the spices of the Orientals are clearly evident, and play major supporting roles. On the whole a very pleasurable and satisfying Blankan blend. For Balkans I usually smoke Balkan Sasieni (both the 2 oz tin and the bulk version available from Cup-O-Joes, but now that I have become familiarized with Odyssey, Abingdon and Charing Cross, my view has swung towards the Pease blends, with Odyssey and Abingdon vying for my attention. I really have a hard time deciding which of the two I prefer more, but tend to reach for Odyssey slightly more than I do for Abingdon. This is probably due to the higher complexity of Odyssey over Abingdon. However, a note of caution: sometimes with Odyssey I get a salty leathery taste going, that I never experience with Abingdon, and in this respect I tend to favor the latter over the former. Thanks Greg for another VERY fine blend. Truly, GL Pease will go down in the history of pipelore as one of the truly great blenders of all time.

Like the tin description says, this is a blend of Latakia, Orientals, and fire cured Virginia tobaccos.

When I lit this up in my standard "English/Balkan blend pipe" I noticed the Latakia. If you know Latakia and like it then you will feel right at home here. It tastes great and definitely isn't afraid to show itself here.

A split second later comes the bitter buttery creaminess of the Orientals. They add a very nice heavy tang to the Latakia, and get along famously.

Finally, the sweet and slightly tangy Virginia leaf comes through and gives that nice harmony to the smoke, bonding it all together.

I have smoked my share of cigars, and I don't get what other reviewers have said about there being a cigar thing going on with Odyssey.

G.L. Pease, you are a boon to mankind. Thank you for this blend. Homer himself would have loved this when orating his literary classics.

A quality tobacco but simply not one I favor. A bit too two-dimensional. Also occasionally difficult to keep lit, unlike many other Pease blends, which I found off-putting. MEH. Damp corrugated cardboard, thy name is Odyssey. I find Charing Cross and Samarra to offer a more diverse and intriguing experience. Two and a half stars.

Update: MDP nailed this blend precisely is his review above. I have revisited Odyssey extensively in various pipes, and continue to have somewhat of the same experience. Odyssey is dense, dark, smokey, full flavored, and would certainly temporarily entertain anyone looking to smoke a large quantity of tasty cyprian latakia. But if other tobaccos are present in the mixture, however, they are so subtle as to be almost entirely subdued and overpowered by the substantial lat dose, from beginning to end of the bowl. I simply cannot detect a significant enough interplay of any other flavors to create any real interest beyond the big, amusing waves of high quality cyprian lat. Each time I smoke Odyssey, I find myself wishing by mid-bowl that I had packed and lit Charing Cross instead, or McClelland's excellent Wilderness. I am upping my opinion of this blend to two and three quarter stars for the distinct, rich cyprian experience, and the lat certainly doesn't fail, fall short, or disappear before the end of the bowl, but this is the highest credit I can muster for this mixture after a yeoman's go of trying to find any more interest or interplay with the "blend". Room note and aftertaste are equally dominated by too much musty, cloying excess of latakia, slightly akin to licking a charred garbage pail. But if you smoke straight latakia, this may be your blend anyway, and is undeniably of high quality weed.

I am a waste not want not person. I found Odyssey to be to much,so not wanting to waste it I would smoke a small pipe full. Then I realized that it just was not worth the effort to enjoy it so I blended it with a straight VA, not wanting to waste tobacco. Still I found that I was forcing myself to tolerate a tobacco that I did not enjoy. Alas I decided to throw it out. Now I need to remind myself that when trying a new blend not to order the big can. I guess I can say I am not a G.L. Pease fan. This is the first tobacco I have ever tossed, just not worth the sore mouth, bad taste, sorry not for me ever again.

So what happened here? Well I ordered a big can of Odyssey having

forgotten I even reviewed or smoked it. Old age.

So this time from the first pipe forward I love this blend, so much so I am less looking forward to my usual rotation. No need to blend it with anything else it is just great, smokes down to a fine ash. Love it. Have no idea why my first can did not satisfy.

This tobacco has stood the test of time. I have yet to try a full english without comparing it first to this tobacco. This is not to say it is my favorite english of all time as each has its own merit, but this is certainly a classic and one I will come back to (when I have the money for such occasions) again and again.

This review is based on a 2oz sample that had been aged a full eight years for what it's worth.

I got a fever, and the only prescription -- is more cowbell.

So said Christopher Walken in that famous Satuday Night Live parody of the Blue Oyster Cult recording their ubiquitous hit, "Don't Fear the Reaper" with Will Ferrel on cowbell.

Well, for this review, G.L.Pease is the Blue Oyster Cult, Odyssey is "Don't Fear the Reaper" and Cyprian Latakia is that loveable/ despicable cowbell. There is a lot of it in this blend and you had better love that, or you'll never get anywhere with this self proclaimed "huge" mixture. Because my sample had perhaps a bit too much age for latakia, the tin aroma was of sweet fermentation, bordering on the trademark McClelland nose. The smoke however, was lat-rich indeed. The rest of the blend, the red, and stoved va, and other oriental weeds, do provide a nice counterpart, but I wish there was more of them. As it is, they shyly bob their heads up now and again, offering a glimpse, and then they are slammed down by the latakia cudgel like an overly enthusiastic game of "whac-a-mole" played by your odd uncle after he's had a few.

It's an assertive blend, that offers whisps of many flavors, but predominately one...cowbell. It can bite a little if you aren't careful, but I never had a problem keeping it lit, like so many others.

I would not recommend this blend to someone who has not tried other selections in the great hall of Pease's English. This has been my least favorite. And for someone who really likes a "lat- bomb," I'd sooner suggest Maltese Falcon, as it has its generous share of the stuff, but offers it in a more balanced and majestic way.

Odyssey is enjoyable, don't get me wrong. I have had several very nice smokes from this sample. It truly has its moments that make it unique. But I would like to try it new to see if it's better -- younger. If I had to give it stars, I'd say 3 of 5, but I am not the universal arbiter of tobacco.

It's just like the song; man, that guitar hook is awesome, but on occasion, it may be the cowbell jammin' loudest.

It's hard to ignore this tobacco, especially a three year old tin out of a fresh corn cob pipe. Since the tin was opened 3 years ago, it's dried out somewhat but the time only made it better. Smooth, creamy, substantial latakia balanced by sweet virginias. Good stuff. I would really like to try other Pease blends.

I have been smoking this mixture since Greg first blended it and i must say he sure knows what he is doing in his microblending!!! The flavor is great and the aroma is that of campfires and fine leather.I have this stocked on my shelf and in my bowl always! I smoke andytime of day and am a big fan of Latakia and Orientals!! The Virginia gives it a complex full flavor while countering the Latakia and the Oriental tobacco. If you want a great balkan or english mixture try Odyssey, it will not disappoint!!!!!!

This was one of the first GLP blends I had tried several years ago. I was looking for a full bodied latakia blend and though it took me some time to get the hang of...when I did...oh boy!!! It's not a daily for me; but I have a tin open always and nip at it from time to time. That "open tin" time seems to serve it well. I think since I first tried it I've never not had a tin open. Highly recommended here!

As I am now into my second tin of this wonderful blend I find it outstanding. The texture and aroma are outstanding! As a Maltese Falcon fan I find it the same category, excellent. I find mine a bit moist out of the tin so a little dry time is needed for my taste. The tobaccos dance wonderfully together and last throughout the bowl. The Latikia?s smokiness last to the end and doesn?t take a front seat to the nutty or fruity taste of the other tobaccos. Another top notch tobacco by GLP.

I smoke mostly Virginia's nowadays, but used to smoke Balkans and other heavy Latakia blends exclusively. This a very nice smoke with solid Latakia presence, cut with a fairly strong Virginia sweetness. The sweetness is more than I am used to in this kind of blend, but it's quite welcome and understood. While it's no Old Ironsides, my wife still shut the windows when I lit this up outside (this is no office tobacco), rounding out the Latakia ritual with the usual ostracization.

this review is based on a generous sample from arko on smokers forums.

smells great in the pouch. the orientals come through fine. light up is easy, and reveals a beautifull virginia and quite fine orientals and latakia. this is very well tuned and very clean tasting, and my only gripe with it may seem strange: it somehow seems a bit didactic (sic). imo the flavours do not quite unite. but still, an good and interesting smoke which i will definitely try again.

It took me several years of pipe smoking before I had the chance to try a Pease product. You just can't buy the stuff in Charlotte. I read all the reviews and finally decided I had to see what all the hype was about, and ordered a tin of Odyssey online.

This stuff blew my mind. It's loaded with Latakia, but there is still so much complexity to this blend. The sweetness of the VAs poke through as if on cue. Unlike others, I have no trouble keeping this lit and have never experienced anything resembling tongue bite. Amazing weed!

I seriously started freaking out after my first bowl that, if this stuff ever got discontinued, and I didn't have enough in the cellar to last me 4 lifetimes, I would be very upset with myself. If you ever see anybody at any time not smoking Odyssey, it's not me.

08/30/08: This is the first review from a returning piper. I smoked burleys for 15 years, then switched to cigars, for about 5. Both, finally, left me flat. A couple months ago I found this site, and I remembered why as a youngster I chose pipes. Based on your great advice (and the internet superstore) I started with some VAs and some forays into Lat/Per/Orientals, including Odyssey. I also had some difficulty with the burn, but man, what flavor. All the depth and complexity missing in some very tasty VAs. (I'm finding I'm partial to certain Orientals). Anxious to enjoy a bowl of Odyssey down to the bottom, I added a little Opening Night, and there it was...rich, lush, but (due to the added VA) just a tad too sweet. I still have many blends to try, and need to master aging, rubbing and prep, but Odyssey just may be it for me. Although I don't feel qualified to give anything 4 stars, I defer to those of you who know great tobacco, and who have kindly shown this prodigal the way home.

update 09/27/08: just smoked a tin of Samarra...Odyssey now a 3 star blend.

Probably the best Balcan mixture. A delight for Latakia fans, it's not for the faint of heart. Wonderfully balanced to keep Latakia on the edge of being overwhelming and at the same time letting the Orientals and Virginias fade in and out. As a side note, it burns to a wonderful white ash that it's a pleasure to see against the black background of Latakia.

UPDATE 05/10/2009: Ok, I'm back reviewing this. I have consulted with many on this including GL. I stored this in a mason jar to "age", let it air out in the New Mexico desert dry air, tried all sorts of packing techniques and STILL....THIS STUFF DOES NOT STAY LIT. It is the most frusterating tobac. I have EVER smoked. Next step is to pour lighter fluid on the crap to keep it lit! I'm throwing it out! JUNK!

=BE SURE YOUR BUTANE LIGHTER IS FULL BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO TRY TO LIGHT THIS STUFF!!

I tried this blend based on GL Pease? website and all the ?hoopla? about this blend/brand and thought I would give it a try. I was very disappointed when I opened the tin as it smelled like an old musty gym sock. Putting that thought aside, I packed my pipe and lit up, and lit up, and lit up again! DOES THIS STUFF NEED LIGHTER FLUID OR WHAT!? It didn?t feel overly moist but, THIS STUFF JUST WON?T BURN! I live in New Mexico where the humidity is 2% so I put a pack of this on a paper towel to air out?all day! Repacked my pipe several times, tried a meerschaum, several other pipes, and STILL no luck keeping this stuff lit.

I held off putting in my review for this thinking that maybe it will age and get better but?NOPE. Perhaps the tobacco is too green? I don?t know but when I was able to get a drag in, it was nothing too spectacular. I know you may be thinking that I am not a Latakia smoker but actually enjoy a good Latakia/Oriental/English blend.....that stays lit. I searched the best price for this blend on the internet and thought it was quite pricy compared to other latakia/oriental blends (hence one of the reasons I am not rating this higher). I think this blend got high reviews based on the name ?GL Pease?. But I think I got ripped off. If this is what Odyssey is all about?..I?ll pass. I know I'm beating the ?hard to burn? issue but if you can't burn it, how can you enjoy smoking it?

I had to read the other reviews on here to see if maybe I just got a bad batch but sure enough, there are more than one reviews indicating the same experience. Upon reading Country Gentleman?s comment, he described it exactly like I would.

My goodness, this is a wonderful tobacco! Every pipe of this that I smoke is really outstanding. The latakia stands out above all else and the orientals are sublime indeed. This is a pipe smokers dream come true. If you like latakia, as I do, give this one a try.

This is a FULL tobacco. It has all the makings of an amazing blend and it lives up to the hype. The latakia is smoky and the Oriental is flawless. The blend smokes cool and burns very well. Right out of the tin the blend is a bit moist, but with a few hours of drying things come under control. The only compliant I can come up with is that the flavors do not mingle well, they come and go without staying around to play with the others. I think a bit of aging is all this needs to be one excellent blend.

English/Balkan lovers grab a spoon. This stuff smells so good you'll want to eat it out of the tin. Yep, it's moist when you pop the tin, so pack it ultra light, and tamp often. Fresh outta the tin it's a bit complex with different notes popping through a deliciously rich latakia.

If you want pure luxury, stick a few tins away for about 5 years. Just finished a bowl out of a 6yr old tin. Unbelievably rich and creamy. Hard to imagine that it can be so bold and smooth at the same time. This blend is truly a classic.

What's not to like? Well, it doesn't burn so well as many reviewers have noted, but it does taste heavenly. I have a GBD that is dedicated to this strong latakia blend and it works for me. It certainly isn't garbage as one reviewer noted.

I have noted a tendency in some walks of life, that when someone reaches the pinnacle of accomplishment or popularity, as G.L. Pease certainly has, some "experts" feel the need to take the person down a peg. To suggest that Odyssey is a one-star blend is ridiculous when one considers some of the genuine garbage that is available for review.

Odyssey is jut that sort of tobacco which makes pipe smoking a truly enjoyable experience. If so tasteful that it would be best to keep a briar pipe for it alone, to avoid having it mixed with other blends. Yet, its really deep flavor may be initially appreciated in a meerschaum or clay pipe. No bit tongue, no dry mouth. It keeps you aware of the real wonder of sense of smelling and above all that of tasting. It is gentle, generous, always surprising, and a the end it teaches you to be grateful for being so alive as to enjoy the merciful pleasures of a simple and decent live. I tend to think of it as the tobacco Indians would have likely loved to smoke to reconcile themselves with earth and all living creatures.

I'm not terribly versed in the latakia department having just a few dunhills and a couple of bulk balkins under my belt. Even so I can confidently give this blend 4 stars. I like it much better than any of the others that I tried. Too me it has more of a chocolate flavor and less of musty basement than the other "english" blends that I have experienced. I think it's smoother and more creamy as well.

I don't know if this is an all day smoke for the latakia fans but for me when I'm in the mood for this I really enjoy it.

English, Balkan, I can't really tell the difference between them, but Odyssey is a rich, flavorful, spectacular smoke that builds as the pipe is smoked down. Odyssey lights easily and based on how the bowl is packed it stays lit with minimal maintenance right out of the tin. Slightly sweet yet not overwhelming, this tobacco delivers what is promised on the tin as bold and assertive. An extremely pleasant smoking experience that takes you away from the daily lull and transports you to the old world at a time when newly harvested tobacco fields were a simple pleasure.

Since the sinking of Old Ironsides I went in search of a replacement and didn?t have to look far. While the flavors are different one thing remains the same HUGE LATIKIA! If you?re a fan of blends with generous portions (and I mean generous) give it a try. Even though the wife will send you to the garage and the dog will have nothing to do with you, so what. This is a great blend when you?re in the mood for a big smoke.

What a difference a year makes. I bought a couple tins of this a while back, but decided that it didn't have the fullness or complexity of my favorite English blends (Margate, Butera Latakia #2, Pelican, Squadron Leader). So I sealed what was left in a Mason jar and stuck it a closet some time in late 2006. I opened the jar last week and ... wow. This is really great stuff. A number of other reviewers have noted the same thing: Odyssey is a delicious, full, complex Balkan if and only if you age it properly. I tend to think Pease is overrated but this is the real deal. It's worth the wait.

An excellent full bodied latakia smoke. When opening the can, one is greeted with a very dark black tobacco blend with a strong latakia leather smell. Agree with all the reviewers that commented on the difficulty to keep it lit. Does not burn easily but does burn cool. The black stoved Virgina gives it a very hearty taste. Reminds me of Balkan Sobraine. Very dry. I can not see smoking this as a daily smoke but when a full latakia is required, can do no better. Tend to like Westminster better for the perique that is added. I will add to this review as I go through the tin but do plan on buying a tin and stashing it away. Think this will age nicely and will be a nice smoke on an occasional basis. I usually do not dedicate pipes since I I have all kinds of moods that takes me to all permiatations of pipes and different tobaccos but this is so full and unique that I would dedicate a pipe for this one if a regualr.

The first time I smoked Odyssey I regretted the purchase of it. I smoked a bowl and have set the tin apart. Then, after some days I gave it an other try, mmmh... not bad, and forgot it again. Some weeks later I had two bowls in a row which never happened to me. Absolutely excellent!Not an every day tobacco but when you are in the mood for something really full Odyssey can be a very wise choice.

Hard to add to what has already been said. This blend is "creamy" to taste (kinda like a Connecticut wrapper cigar really) despite the high latakia content and so amazingly well balanced! The nicotine content is not overwhelming but....NICE...VERY NICE!!! I do not often crave full English mixtures like this but when I do this is the blend I want. You owe it to yourself to try a tin of Odyssey - unless you REALLY hate latakia I can't see how you will be disappointed. BTW: As others have written, you must dry this out a bit before smoking and even then you may have to relight it often. However, it's next to impossible to get it to produce bite.

Many, and in my experience MOST tobaccos are not smokeable right after popping the tin, primarily because of too much moisture. Many reviewers dock the tobacco for this, but that is a mistake, I think, for several reasons. Not all people need their tobacco to be the same humidity, for reasons of packing and smoking styles, pipe qualities including size, and perhaps most importantly, individual body chemistry. And that being the case, it is better for a tobacco to be nearer the wet side of the spectrum because it is easier to dry it out than add moisture. Moreover, the tobacco naturally dries out as you repeatedly open the tin to get some out. So one could argue that it needs to be wetter than optimal at first so it can go "through" it's optimum humidity as you go through the tin. Finally, some say that pipe tobaccos age and "travel" better when wetter than optimal smoking humidity. So rather than complaining about too much moisture, one needs to learn to take care of that himself. That's pipe-smoking 101 for me. Otherwise, I would avoid too many quality mixtures. If it is worth it to you to find the one or two blends that are perfect (for you) right out of the tin, go for it. But I still think it a mistake to blame the tobacco. End of teaching moment.

This tobacco also needs some ATT: air and tin time. Like others have noted, I experienced the "dirty sock" phenomenon at first, where this was mostly just salty and bitter and left my mouth feeling dry. But after two or so hours drying out and two weeks or so sitting in a sealed jar, it began to sing. The sweetness came through moderating and balancing the other flavors nicely, and the particular perfumey character of the orientals was a nice touch. A "top five" latakia blend for me.

Smoking a pipe and different tobacco's over several decades has not left me an expert! I knows what I likes and I knows what I doesn't and this one I likes!

For someone who enjoys the English and Balkan blends, this is an outstanding tobacco. Full of flavor without a bite. If you don't like Latakia, then you won't like Odyssey. Not that the Latakia is overpowering, it really isn't but you can't miss its zing in this tobacco.

I would recommend this to new pipe smokers as well as those looking to switch over or try the Balkan/Orientals.

This is one of my favorite tobaccos and my favorite at the moment, with the caveat that it is too flavorful to be an all day smoke. On light-up, it's "just" latakia. After the charring and a couple puffs, it balances and gets interesting and after that it is just plain wonderful. It reminds me of taking espresso, or extremely strong but good coffee, and then adding a lot of sugar and cream, except Oddysey does not taste like coffee at all and doesn't have much sweetness either; just an analogy of some sort.

As a lover of Balkan blends, and a Pease fan to boot, I'm surprised it took me so long to get around to Odyssey. But I finally opened a five-month old tin to give it a try.

The first hit -- to the nose, to the eyes -- is a motherlode of latakia. And that's the dominating taste when match hits bowl. But if smoked slowly, it doesn't take long for the orientals to come bursting through, and then the Virginias. (I don't think I've ever smoked a blend that so expertly comingled latakias and orientals so that it's sometimes difficult to tell where one leaves off and the other begins.)

To my palate, this somehow falls outside the Balkan lines -- or else it's "Balkan" pushed to the limits. And it actually seems to have more in common with Pease's subsequent Westminster (although it falls short of Westminster's richness and complexity) than it does with, say, Charing Cross or Caravan. But regardless of how you categorize or compare it, this blend is a four-star joy.

I'd had Fillmore and Haddo's, but had never tried one of Mr. Pease's latakia blends. I decided to start things out right with Odyssey, and I'm quite glad I did.

Much like Dunhill's Durbar, what really stands out here are the orientals. Very tart with a little spice... The latakia is top notch stuff, smoky and rich. The virginias have no bite, and I love how they work in tandem with the orientals... ahhhh... the sweet & sour taste that is such a pleasure on the palate & through the nose. I also can't help but inhale at certain points.

Not much moisture in the pipe and a nice light grey ash... This is truly a masterpiece and an odyssey of the senses.

I first encountered this blend about two years ago. I was looking for something similar to the Balkan Sasieni I had smoked a few years earlier (The newer version of Sasieni was nothing like the first I had). The tobacconist recommended Odyssey. I purchased a 2oz. tin and tore it open as soon as I got in my car. He was right. Though the flavor didn't seem as consistent from puff to puff as the Sasieni, it still delivered some of the "salty" flavor that I was craving. In the following days as I returned to the blend I noticed it was becoming more consistent and providing more of the saltiness. I soon purchased another 2oz. tin and it was good also. Fast forward. About six months ago, I got the urge to revisit Odyssey and decided to get a large tin this time as I felt I already knew what to expect. Wrong. No saltiness and pretty much no flavor. I was disappointed but kept the tin and have retried it from time to time since then hoping age would improve it. No such luck. Maybe I just got a bad tin or maybe their is a difference in the small and large tins. I don't know. I plan to buy one more 2oz. tin. If it doesn't satisfy, I will be writing this blend off.

Outstandingly good ingredients, beautifully presented. This is a blend worthy to take its place with the best of its kind. Yet ...

The experience is digital rather than analogue. Each voice is heard individually rather than ensemble. The effect is of a child prodigy drawing attention to itself persistently: the performance cannot be faulted, the mannerisms could be better. Hence the withholding of the fourth star.

REVIEW 30 JAN 2007: Coming back to this mixture after a year, it is a pleasure to join many others in according Odyssey four stars. A year in the tin has married all the ingrediets, and the final effect is nothing short of superb.

Odyssey is an amazingly complex Balkan. As you smoke your way through a bowl of it, the different component tobaccos take turns at being the "star" of the blend, while the others remain solidly in the background at all times. All the way through, Odyssey is thoroughly smooth and satisfying. There's plenty of Latakia here, but it never muscles the Virginia and Oriental tobaccos aside. The tin aroma is smoky, earthy, leathery, just as complex as Odyssey's flavor, and the tobacco itself is high-quality. The tobacco in a freshly opened tin is slightly moist and reluctant to take a light; leaving the plastic lid off for a couple hours was all that was needed to bring the moisture down to an acceptable level. I like the room note, but others might not find it so pleasing. All in all, Odyssey is another first-rate mixture from G. L. Pease; anyone who enjoys Balkan mixtures shouldn't hesitate to try it!

One day, this might be considered the holy grail of English blends. More complex than Penzance, and as smooth a latakia blend as I've yet found. Like many of GLP's blends, as the smolder hits each successive level of leaf, the latakia, VA's, and Oriental tobaccos in the blend yield an awesome complexity. At varying times, you can actually know what tobacco you're presently tasting, which only shows mastery of blending in anything with latakia. Smooth, rich, and a perfect all-day blend. With a couple of years of age on it, this will be even more awesome. It's a touch moist from the tin, but 30 minutes or so of air time works wonders. This blend, for me, will be the type where I'll buy three tins at a time; enjoy one relatively soon, and age two. The day is coming when this will be spoken of with hushed reverence. It's that good. I'd give it 9 stars out of ten already. After 3-4 years, without question, it'll be a 10

Quite simply, this is the best latakia mixture I've ever tried. I've never before enjoyed a Balkan mixture in which I could detect each of the constituent tobaccos and yet be so overwhelmed by the total product.

BTW, I rated the Room Note as "Pleasant to Tolerable" simply because I LOVE the smell of latakia, both in the tin and when it's being smoked (the "pleasant" part). I can't necessarily say the same for those around me (the "tolerable" part of the review).

I've cracked a tin of Odyssey, and have found it to be an exceptionally smooth, Latakia-rich blend. As I like billowing clouds of thick smoke, I tend to smoke a bit on the fast side, but Odyssey never once even threatened to bite. Although I've been surprised at how twiggy and coarse some of the tobacco is cut, it is obviously high quality stuff.

While the tobacco smokes deep and smooth, I also find it very straighforward (particularly w/ regard to the latakia,) if that makes any sense. Smoke aroma is a significant part of my enjoyment, and I didn't find Odyssey having the incense-like fragrance and complexity while burning that I get with, for example, Frog Morton at its best, or Ashton Celebrated Sovereign. Also, I found myself having to relight many times, which surprised me. But these aspects may change as my tin airs out a bit, and might be different for aged tins of Odyssey (this is a newly opened tin of very recent vintage).

So far, on a five-star scale, I'd give it a four. I look forward to exploring the rest of the tin.

Over the past five years or so, I've sampled probably 100 or more latakia-type mixtures ranging from Pease's other products to those manufactured in the U.K., the Continent, or thrown together by various B&Ms. Most of them are mediocre at best, but thankfully there's a handful of genuinely great ones out there: Abingdon, Larry's Blend, and Wilderness, to name just three.

But Odyssey is, bar none, the best of the lot (IMHO, of course).

This may be the ultimate blend of its type, better even the Balkan Sobranie of old. The latakia is top-notch and definitely in the driver's seat, but it manages not to be overwhelming -- it may be the star of the show, but it's got one hell of an ensemble backing it up. Equally important is the unique combination of stoved VAs and orientals, which interact in such a way as to define "complexity" in the context of pipe tobacco. You really need to dedicate a pipe or two (preferably with large bowls) to this blend if you want to appreciate this latter characteristic fully. Some smokers might not agree that this is complex, instead describing it as a lat-bomb, but I find this tobacco changes flavors every few draws. The best parts are where the sweet orientals take center stage and produce a high, incense-like note that briefly overwhelms every elese -- it's a nice effect, and one I've never experienced with other mixtures.

Odyssey's basic taste profile is comparable to Larry's Blend and very similar to McClelland's Legends, only Odyssey is far richer and has several additional dimensions of flavor. Another comparison might be made to Abingdon, only Odyssey is both sweeter and, again, more complex (to my pslate, at least).

There are two drawbacks. First, as others have pointed out, Odyssey doesn't pack or burn easily. I don't know if this is because of the leaf used or if the cut is to blame, but you can easily go through a book of matches over the course of a bowl. Usually this type of problem is a "deal killer" to me, but not here -- this stuff is actually worth it. The other drawback is that it's too rough on the palate for all-day smoking, which stinks because I might otherwise seriously consider tossing most everything else in my cellar in favor of it. Both Abingdon and Larry's Blend are far easier on the mouth (hence I smoke them more frequently) but Odyssey is what I turn to when I want to enjoy a special occasion or just zone out for an hour or two.

Odyssey is my first GL Pease blend, and will certainly not be my last. The tin aroma shouts Latakia, but the Latakia does not overpower the smoke. Yes, the Latakia does dominate, but the Virginia's and the oriental's make their presence known. I experienced a smooth flavor, no tongue bite, and was left with a clean, dry pipe. Mr. Pease, my hat is off to you. After reading some very favorable reviews, I decided to try this blend, and I am very glad that I did. I will be trying more Pease offerings. Odyssey is a blend that every pipe smoker should try. I think even those who do not normally favor Latakia blends will enjoy this at least as an occasional smoke. 5 out of 5 stars for this blend.

My occasional forays into Latakia blends have at times left my mouth feeling as though I had licked the fire bricks in the back of my fireplace. Odyssey must contain only the finest Latakia. For, while the scent and taste of Latakia was clearly present, it was most enjoyable. It is, for me, a regret free Latakia blend.

Smoking this blend has been an absolute delight. It lights easily and maintains a dependable, steady burn. I experience absolutely no bite whatsovever, during or after a bowl. The taste and smell of this tobacco are magnificent. I even liked the way the inside of my car smelled when I got into it the next morning.

Mr. Pease has my thanks and admiration for giving us this superb tobacco. Due to the price of a tin, it will remain an occasional treat, but it most certainly is a treat.

This blend is not for the faint of heart. Full style english smokers will and should be quite pleased. As with most Pease blend this could use some aging. The stuff in my basment is getting just right for me after 2 years. But even with no age, this stuff is wonderful.

This is a review of a review by Professor on August 4, 2006. For the most part, everyone who takes the time to review a tobacco does so without using ad hominem attacks on the blender or the manufacturer, or other reviewers. Mr. Pease? mixtures consistently earn 4-star ratings and if the median or mode was used instead of the average, nearly all would be 4-star rated tobaccos. I smoke a wide range of tobaccos, many flakes as well as ribbon cut mixtures and Odyssey is one of my all-time favourite VA/Orientals/Latakia mixtures. There are many others who must agree, at least in part. I have taken personal offense to Professor?s comments in his review of Odyssey. He sates he is not a fan of GLP tobaccos, hence I can only wonder why he ever buys them. Does he harbour ill-will for Mr. Pease and wishes to use this forum to ?get back? at Mr. Pease? Does he even like pipe smoking at all? I believe Odyssey is one of the world?s greatest VA/O/Latakia mixtures and would be at the top of my list of must haves on a desert island. I suggest Professor that you let me purchase all tins of glp tobacco you have and to promise to never buy a glp mixture again. Let the webmaster know where to send the money and I will give you an address.

Odyssey is a wonderful smoke. I won`t elaborate too much on what others have said below...other than it`s a fantastic blend, and one I TRY and save for special occaisions. It`s very strong in latakia, but not so much as to overpower the whole experience. There are beautiful tastes of oriental tobacco that drift in and out as you go through a bowl. English and balkan fanciers would do well to sample some of this, as it really is a must try for `real tobacco` lovers. It always makes my mouth water, and the flavour makes me tempted to nibble on a few strands from the tin just to see if they taste as good as when smoked! It also has a tendency to leave my mouth with a wonderful `dirty` taste which I rather enjoy. A very smooth, non-bitey classic. Mr Pease, you have my greatest respect.

rich, fullbodied, the Best balkan that I have ever tried. I love it, even more than Kinsington! I think this baccy goes best after an early dinner in the warmer months, but in front of the morning paper before breakfast in feb. is delish you just can't lose with this blend. It packs well burns well, and is of surpassing quality.

Odyssey is just that; "a long wandering and eventful journey". This tobacco smoked wonderfully throughout the tin, although some larger pieces require breakage. The quality of the latakia is astounding, and even more impressive is just how smooth this blend smokes. A mature, woodsy flavored pipe tobacco to be enjoyed in any circumstance. Highly Recommended.

I sampled some of this at a local B&M and was very impressed. It reminded me a lot of C&D Mississippi Mud but was much smoother. Provides a very slow burning, cool smoke with lots of smokey flavor. A real treat for those who like Cyprian latakia. Nice work, Greg.

I cannot say enough about this blend. It is full, rich, smokey and satisfying. I am a big fan of all the Pease blends I've tried, but this is my favorite. I smoke only Balkan/ English type blends or occasional Virginia Flakes. Odyssey delivers a big, creamy smoke, complexity, no bite, and burms clean right to the bottom. It leaves my tongue with a lingering, natural sweetness that is not dried out like so many Latakia enhanced blends can render you. Charing Cross is a close second. It smokes slow and dry. High quality stuff that is really engaging. This tobacco works as well for me as a first smoke with coffee or as a nightcap with a glass of Single Malt.

The combination of tobacs is well thought out. It is a super Oriental and/or Balkan mixture. Zesty, tangy, smoky, spicy, and very tasty. It is a bit on the dry side & stays lit. Taste is same all the way to the bottom. DGT is not good.

This is a very well balanced blend, and I don't think I can emphasize that enough. The nice woodsy take of latakia mixed with wonderful orientals and some sweetness from the Virginia. It isn't every day I come across a tobacco that is both full bodied and controlled, but this one is. Odyssey is an excellent balkan that any english smoker needs to try. UPDATE: After more experience with Odyssey I'm still extremely impressed. The virginias and latakia weave in and out in the flavor creating an extremely complex and interesting smoke. The aroma is absolutely wonderful this is almost taking the place of Penzance for me we will have to see if that happens as I smoke more of this blend.

This balkan is very good stuff. The range of ressonance here is global. Promises made from the initial scent are kept, made manifest in a full and well balanced smoke. Dark in appearance and sultry in presentation, the full experience is present throughout the smoke. An appreciation of submissive eloquence is not required but rather created by the forceful discourse of this blending of leaves. If a tobacco blend hall of fame is ever created, this expressive blend is sure to be in it. Yes, before I even finished the sample, this blend was already being stocked in my cellar by the pound. All those who desire to upgrade my opinion of them are welcome to send me large crates of this tobac. In the orchestral movements of balkan blends, this is the oboe - hauntingly rich and melancholy in it's own timeless ways.

A very complex and flavourful blend, I would heartily recommend Odyssey to both the novice and veteran pipesmoker. It had the dark, smoky fullness that I've always loved about good balkans and latakias, but coupled with a mild Virginia sweet tanginess. To sum it up, it tastes like the best parts of a good latakia and a good Virginia blend. This is a blend I could easily smoke every day.

Odyssey is Balkan with a capital 'B'. An absolutely compelling and yet smooth quality, and a decidedly soothing effect that could be illegal outside Nevada or Amsterdam.

This is less a display of tobacco flavor fireworks that can be described with the normal descriptive themes, and really one of those lush, ethereal blends that must be experienced personally. There is playful subtlety here, and a robustness that is soft and rounded.

A excellent balkan blend, not only with a lot of latakia, has greats virginias leaf. Rich in taste, remember me the flavor of the extint Balkan Sobraine Original Mixture. It's one of the finest GL Peace's creations. May be the only problem is the sourronding aroma, because is not gentle with the public.

This indeed is a great Balkan. Sweet and with great body it presents complexity and a remarkable interplay of tastes. The Latakia are here but do not overpower the blend, working perfectly with the sweet VA base and the spicy Orientals. A must the Balkan lover and a recommended try for others.

My second venture into GLPease territory confirms the good impressions of my first blend, Mephisto. Reading the description on the label, I expected something stronger, as this is described as a full Balkan mixture. The truth is that this is not an overpowering assault on your senses as, for example, Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture or CAO Old Ironsides. Neither it is a full, meaty, stuff like Dunhill London Mixture. Yes, it is a Latakia-heavy blend, but its gentleness and roundedness make it a better-behaved, less rough, smoke. It seems now clear to me that Mr. Pease likes his blends carefully balanced, opting for a subtler approach than most of his competitors: Latakia as a spice, not as the main dish. Once understood this concept, I began to truly appreciate this mixture, which at first seemed somewhat lacking punch. The predominant taste is clearly Latakia, as the sweetness of the red virginias remains in the background to provide roudness, not to be distinctly perceivable. The exotic orientals provide incense-like flavors and licorecey hints, and the result is a blend with some similarities to Mephisto, but without its underlying sweetness and warmth. Its slight bitterness, typically balkan, is great: never exaggerated, always delicate, well-balanced and continuosly appealing. The slightly rough cut of the leaves (predominantly dark with yellow bits here and there) gives a pleasant "handmade" look to the blend, which nonetheless burns fine without overheating or wetness. While I think that some slightly exaggerate the qualities of GLPease tobaccos calling them the Holy Grail of pipesmokers (I always tend to be sceptical of exaggerations of any kind), this is an excellent blend that I will be glad to include in my favorite list. I recommend smoking it in a Latakia-dedicated pipe, better if it has no tendency to smoke wet, as it helps to truly appreciate it.

Others have elaborated on this blend's specific properties so effectively, that I see no need to cover that ground again.

It is the only blend out of all the Balkan's that I've seen described as "creamy", that actually fits the bill. It is elegant yet strong - full of changing flavors and nuances. Best smoked slow and enjoyed...an Odyssey in both name and experience.

To date my favorite Balkan blend. I waited a long time to try it. Built up my own internal hype. Well worth the wait and destined to join Haddo's, Raven's Wing, 3 Friars, Nightcap and Margate at the top of my heap.

Wow! When I think of what a balkan blend should be, this is what comes to mind. This is a wonderful blend that is better experienced than read about! This is rich and complex and very satisfying. There is a wonderful complexity that is in this blend. It ranges from dark and smokey to some higher notes that seem to have almost a lightly sweet grassy overtone. For a balkan blend this was very friendly and much more sophisticated in its complexity and smokability than others i've had. The surprising thing about this blend is that it also smokes well with out much attention given to it. If I had to choose 1 balkan blend over any other this would be it. Highly recomended to balkan lovers as well as those who enjoy other latakia blends.

16th-Sep-2003. Odyssey-Absolutely BRILLIANT! I love the taste, in every way.The rich full flavour of Latakia,& it's back ground of Virginia & Oriental.Smoke's very well,right down to the last puff. One of the Best Balkan's,I have ever smoked! My favourite Pease,by far! I have only Praise for this tobacco,& I think it definitely deserves 10 out of 10.

A friend stopped by the other day and gave me half of a tin on this stuff. He said it was his new favorite, and since I trust his tastes I fired it up. What a nice smoke! The last few months have seen me smoking very few English blends. The heat has me smoking mostly burleys with the occassional VA or VA/P thrown in. This blend however has definitely got me chugging along on the Latakia train once again. The Latakia that Greg gets his hands on is always of the best kind, and the virginias that are in this blend seem to be better matured than in his other blends. My friend did say that he let the tin age for about 6 months. The Virginias give a wonderful sweetness to the smoky latakias. Don't forget that they are definitely virginias, however and should be treated accordingly (you can get bit!). I like this even better than Caravan, my favorite Pease English prior to this. The Orientals give a nice showing but remain very subdued throught the smoke- Just the way I like them. Although I still prefer blends heavier with Latakia (Penzance, Pirate Kake, Nightcap, etc.), I find this to be a nice medium English that I have no problem smoking even in the Oklahoma summer heat.

This bend displays remarkable smoothness, given its size. Huge enough to satisfy the most ardent latakia lover, it is as easy to smoke as a beginner's blend. It smokes cool and dry, with nary a glitch in the burn. While it may lack the bottomless depth of flavor of a Nightcap, it's not far off, and without the sometimes bitter and acrid components of that blend. I find myself enjoying this blend more and more, and am seldom disapointed with a bowl.

This is some hytest Latakia for a normal VA flake smoker. The nicely prepared, long ribbons consist of a high % of jet-black Latakia and stoved VAs intermixed with reds, browns and goldens. The room aroma is too strong for me to smoke among non-puffers. The taste, although enjoyable, is too full for an all-day or steady smoke. However, in the right place and @ the right time, especially after dinner, this is truly an enjoyable blend. More of the oriental influence is tasted than in some other Pease blends but the balance between the various components seems ideal and interesting. A cool, smooth, satisfying smoke that demands little attention. Seems like a must try for Latakia/Oriental fans.

Having purchased a few tins of this about 6 month's ago, I couldn't wait to open a tin. I had previously reviewed Caravan, which I found sublime, a well rounded tobacco blend, however, the type of cavendish seems to have deterred me from giving that blend 5 stars. Well, Odyssey seems to have taken over, from my previous distraction. Reading the former reviews, I will have to concur with most, and not add much. This tobacco is full, as in taste, as they say BIG, the nicotine is present, but that is not an issue, it is expected.The Latakia is boisterous, kept only in check by the harmony of mellifluous Virginia's, and ostensible Orientals. This tobacco will not only engulf you, but will tantilize you. Well blended, as one would expect, and sure to be a crowd pleaser, for the Balkan/English crowd, that is. Not being familar with 759 I cannot compare, but this is sure to be an adequate replacement? Burns clean, smokes slow, satisfies. Nirvana?

Being a latakia lover that I am, I found this blend to be a great morning smoker. Goes great with coffee and the paper. Its got a great, velvety smooth feel on the tongue that stays to the end of a dry burning bowl. If you smoke lots of different blends however, you will undoubtedly find it will carry over a bit so pick a pipe you don't smoke lighter blends in. All in all, a great latakia blend that doesn't make you feel as though your tongue had been used to flip burgers. Highly recommended for latakia smokers looking for a good, easy smoke.

This is truly a great Balkan. It is similar to Caravan, but it is unique and great in it's own right. It has a full taste and I feel the Orientals are more everpresnt in this blend. The ribbon cut strands are medium to long cut, light, medium, and dark in color. Being a Pease blend, of course, it burns just right and has virtually no bite, even at the end of the smoke. As duly noted, by 'smokerace' in his review, I think this will complement Caravan quite well on a rotation of world class Balkan-type Englishes. Another thing. For my money, the old Balkan Sobranie's (both versions) were never close to being this good. Highest recommendation.

Ever since Balkan Sobranie #759 mixture left I have felt something was missing. Now it has returned for me in the form of Odyssey. When I opened the tin the aroma was immediatly familiar. The color and texture were also reminiscent of my old favorite. When I packed my pipe I wondered if this could finally be the one to replace The Black and Gold Tin. I lit, charred, and relit. It was unmistakable. It was 1977, I was lighting my first Dunhill LB and smoking #759 again, or at least that was how it felt. For those who never had the pleasure, the flavor is strong Latakia, but with fine highlights from the Virginias. Full bodied, you smoke it slowly, or the heat on the tongue will be too much. The nicotene is high for an English, so not too much of it for the uninitiated. Once familiar with this blend it can be alternated with Caravan for the complete Balkan Sobranie (the white tin)experience. Now, if I can just convince Greg to put Odyssey in a black wrapper whith gold lettering this blend will always be on my shelf. Actually, even if Greg won't grant me this bit of nostalgia, Odyssey will always be on my shelf anyway. This is one of the two or three best English blends available.

Everybody seems to like this, and for good reason. Very nice blend. Smoky latakia blends are my go-to, and this one does it very well. Many great reviews on this already, just wanted to add my thumbs up to this one!

The smell from the tin is lovely, but I think anyone who doesn't like Balkan's might not be so fond of it. The picture painted from the tin-note implies a blend that's going to have a strong Latakia flavour, and this is also suggested by the high proportion of black pieces in there too: it looks to be about 60% Latakia. Although it says the blend comprises just ribbons, that only seems to apply to the Lat', the rest of the blend appears to be constructed from broken flakes. There's the correct amount of moisture, so a pipe can be enjoyed straight away when freshly opened.

Right, the smoke: igniting is plain sailing, as is the quality of the burn, and that gives off a very cool smoke. Next we have the flavour: the first word that springs to mind is Quality. Yes, the taste is led by the Latakia, but this isn't too harsh nor bitter. The Lat' tastes woody and deeply rich, but it doesn't have too much smokiness to it. The Oriental/Turkish play a good role in this blend: they add a noticeable amount of zeal to the smoke. The Virginia doesn't give me much flavour: I only get a very slight grassy note. The nicotine results on this site for Odyssey seem to cover quite a broad spectrum, right from extremely mild, to very strong. Me? I'm going to sit just below the common denominator: to me it's mild to medium. Tongue bite? No bite whatsoever!

This is a smashing blend for when I'm in the mood to have something that tastes full; really full! I wouldn't smoke it regularly, i.e. morning, noon, and night, but as a decadent treat it really is something!

This blend is advertised accurately, and for that it gets high marks. Lots of smoky, leathery Latakia and earthy, herbal Oriental in this one (not sure I can taste the Virginias). The combination works well to provide a mostly cool smoke with some bite, but it burns well and the room note is inoffensive. I get the sense of age and depth, but I can't quite put my finger on it. But that sense can very easily become overpowering if you smoke this too often or too quickly. I can't see this as an all-day smoke. All in all, not bad. Recommended.

This blend is advertised accurately, and for that it gets high marks. Lots of smoky, leathery Latakia and earthy, herbal Oriental in this one (not sure I can taste the Virginias). The combination works well to provide a mostly cool smoke with some bite, but it burns well and the room note is inoffensive. I get the sense of age and depth, but I can't quite put my finger on it. But that sense can very easily become overpowering if you smoke this too often or too quickly. I can't see this as an all-day smoke. All in all, not bad. Recommended.

Odyssey is truly huge exactly as described. To me it is huge in an overwhelming way. The Latakia is the star of the show to the point where its very difficult to discern the other ingredients.

To me the taste is monochrome and doesn't develop beyond an overwhelming Latakia presence. I like Latakia, but this blend uses Latakia in a way that I didn't taste before. The other players in the blend take such a backseat that I wonder if they exist at all.

Obviously I can see how heavy Latakia lovers would rate this very highly and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! Just not for me.

It did have an aftertaste to me because of its fullness of latakia flavour. It left my mouth dry but had no real bite to it (its actually a very smooth smoke that produces heavy thick Latakia laden smoke) Ghosting is guaranteed because of the heaviness of the smokey leaf.

I had a lot of trouble keeping it lit until I dumped the tin into my food processor and chopped it finely. It then took to the light and stayed lit.

I couldn't finish the tin because its just not my cup of tea so I began mixing it with other unidimensional blends I had that failed to grab my attention. So far mixing Odyssey with Solani Aged Burley gave me a very interesting smoke so I'll be enjoying the rest of my tin mixed in with straight Burley.

Amazing mixture. Takes you to Cairo or Marakesh in a smoke filled coffee shop where men smoke there pipes talk about what ever and and drink there Turkish coffee's or mint teas while eating finger foods and pastries. Oh so civilized. Blackash tobacco with a lovely smell of latakia and fine orientals. The Virginia adds a depth and balance of only the finest pipe tobacco blends. You would be hard pressed to find a finer blend. Gentelmen you may smoke. Peace.

I was very impressed with this blend from first light, it scared me it was so damn smoky with Latakia and I loved it!! Another fine Balkan which had the ability to hit me with such profound smokiness yet also uplift the VAs and the Orientals. Again, this is such a good, chewy creation...the smoke almost seemed to stick to my teeth. I actually had to fan the plume from my face while driving one afternoon. Some may call this a Lat Bomb and they would not be far off, but any shrapnel from this bomb is of the palate pleasing type. Simply Delicious and it doesn't scare me anymore...respect it however?...YES!! PKGIYH

Odyssey, if it were a song it would be "eye of the tiger" by Survivor -- starts well, but just doesn't deliver, just keeps repeating itself. Odyssey is often referred to as a (latakia) "monster", but in the end it does not have a lot of body or complexity and I find it somewhat bland and tiring. A disappointment.

The Good: Pouch has a smell of rich sweet latakia. Tobacco is a combination of ribbon and partially rubbed out broken flake, with some sticks. Some tobacco shows sugar crystals. Light up and you get a clean smoke. Flavors separate out (latakia, oriental) wonderfully. The stoved black virginia helps to make this a very smooth and creamy smoke, devoid of harshness or oriental sharpness. The sweetness detected in the pouch translates to the smoke. Delightful through nose. Quality tobacco. The Bad: Cannot keep it lit for love or money. This balkan is way too moist and my attempts to dry it out resulted in the loss of that wonderful initial smoking experience and flavor. Fighting through it between relights and dry outs will leave you frustrated and with a tongue coated with an unappealing muddy latakia aftertaste. What a shame.

Tasty full lat blend. As others have mentioned very hard to keep lit even after (over) drying out , breaking up more , light or heavy pack.. for me if blend was presented in a different cut perhaps it would be a better experience . Great flavor and lots of smoke but its too much work for me to rate 3 or 4 star . Hard to review as its difficult to smoke.

Aside from Frog Morton- this is one of my favorites so far. The initial smell of the tobacco is latakia- but the taste offers much more, thus staying true to it's name- a journey, adventure etc. For me the taste changes through the bowl, from earthy to woodsy- hearty to BBQ/caramel. Good in the morning, night and in between.

My first review after lurking around this website for a couple of years. Also my first Pease blend, and won't be my last. This tin was around a year old, pretty standard moisture level for a new tin, and I smoked a bowl right after opening it. This was one of the easiest burning bowls I have ever smoked. One of the very rare times I have not had to relight - all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Some of the reviews say it's hard to keep lit, but certainly not my experience - variation in tins perhaps.

Strong latakia with just enough slight sweetness underneath, which is exactly what I've been looking for. This is going to be a regular for me. Highly recommend it - very full flavored, cool, creamy smoke, easy burn, no complaints. Prompted me to finally write a review, for what that's worth.

I just finished a 2oz tin of this stuff. Took a long time since I wanted to air it a bit before smoking. Aged for a few months and aired for about 2 weeks.

Tobacco in the tin is a mix of ribbon, broken flakes and coarse cut tobacco. Lights not so easy, white/gray ash.

It's a good tobacco; dense and smokey and oily. Tastes rather good but leaves me wanting more in nicotine department. And when I read how it's "huge, the biggest of Pease blends" I expected, well, more hugeness.

Nonetheless you can give it a try if you like latakia. Maybe you will find out what's huge about it.

Not the Lat bomb that I have read about, at least not like Ten Russians. I am used to Latakia blends and smoke this type almost exclusively, this one is very good but not really outstanding. The taste will change dramatically (for the good) when allowed to dry before smoking. I have no problem with this in my rotation it is just that I cannot find that one thing that stands out, this may well be it's best character, nothing needs to stand out, just satisfy. Like an old friend you can turn to when you need that comfort feeling.

Latakia is wonderful to smell when you are craving a fuller smoke. You should know that already before opening Odyssey, cause it is very laden with the black beauty. The first bowl left me a little disappointed and confused on what the big deal was. Then I "gave it the air". A week or so in my tobacco drawer was enough for it to dry out some and show me it's magic. Latakia is latakia, no surprises, but the orientals in the back row give it a little sharpness that I didn't notice before airing it out. I find Odyssey to be a solid Balkan after all. Actually, most every Pease blend gets better when it's allowed to air out some. The man knows what he's doing.

I am smoking a tin from February 2010. This blend, to me, is full strength Latakia, which I love. The blend lights well, smokes dry, and burns well to the end. This makes it a good blend for me. The strong taste of Latakia, with orientals, makes it a great blend for me. I am not sure that this will be an all day blend, or even an everyday blend for me. It will certainly be a regular blend that I smoke, and I have just ordered several more tins so that I have it available.

This tobacco is the first from G.L.Pease i have tried. Quite a strong latakia tin aroma as expected.

It loads and lights very easily because of it being ready rubbed and doesn't need much if any drying out i find.

From only a couple of bowls i could tell that if one is not a fan of latakia this blend is not for you.

I find myself that the latakia is quite overpowering, a bit too overpowering if i'm honest. Not that this ruins the blend, but i guess i expected a bit more from the red virginias and the perique, i just dont really get them. It seems like they're just subdueing the latakia. The latakia does give it a kick but again i find it overpowering.

I will happily get through the rest of the tin, but unlikely i will be buying another.

Recommend the lovers of latakia but to those who aren't fans, wouldnt bother.

My pipeful lasted 10 min. I have opened the tin, let it dry a couple hours a day for the last three weeks.

After 3 min, I experienced tongue bite. After 8 min, my mouth was sore from pulling to keep the tobacco lit.

After 10 min I gave up, emptied my pipe and threw the tin in the garbage container.

I have smoked darker mixtures - a full tin of McConnell's Latakia Flake, a combination of Latakia and Stoved VAs- and never had any problems with the burning qualities or tongue bite. And it actually tasted something.

This tobacco was horrible.

Tastes are not to discuss but my experiences with Pease have been negative so far. I just don't understand the enthousiasm for them.

Alas, we come to it. Six years aging in the sealed tin and just the right moisture at the crack of the seal. I've looked forward to trying Pease's fullest Latakia mixture and full it is, I imagine aging has made it smoother than it would otherwise present fresh from Morganton, N.C.

Heavy indeed with Latakia and other Orientals of an amalgamated sort, and it has that acrid personality exhibited by some massive Lat 'O blends. Odyssey is sweeter than other tinned Latakia mixtures from Pease and Bill Bailey's Best Balkan, though Odyssey is not sweet as say Margate, Bombay Extra, Balkan Supreme, Balkan Sasieni, 1820 and blends in the same genre. "Sweeter than and not as sweet" comparisons should not imply that Odyssey will substitute for standard English mixtures, as Odyssey is not what I would call a sugar fix.

I did want some migration of flavors though, flitting here and there, developing and receding, but that is not Odyssey (nor Abingdon for that matter). More like an explosion followed by seismic waves, the flavors deepen and concentrate rather than throw a change-up to keep the smoker alert to intrigue. Far more interesting than Maltese Falcon, but less so than Samarra, despite the extra flavor of Odyssey.

This might have received higher marks had I not simultaneously been smoking Samovar and Legends. Both do more with the same and keep me lost in wonder amidst nimbus nicotiana.

There are already enough reviews of this tobacco, but I'll add my two cents anyway:

First, I really like this. But it's hard to know how to describe it. It does not taste like any cigar, but I can see why other reviewers have compared this to a double ligero cigar. It's a full flavored bomb to smoke after a meal, and not in hot weather.

Some reviewers have called this tobacco "too much," and I think I know what they mean. This isn't a nuanced, delicate little blend of wispy flavors. This is, like, the opposite of that.

This is very full-flavored, and there's a lot going on. It's dense, sweet, smoky, savory, and it's all of those things at once. I can see how some might be ovewhelmed or put off by it. I wasn't.

It has a heavy mouthfeel and a thick texture to match its full flavor. I like it, and I might like it a lot, but not everyone will.

Whoa . . . This stuff reminds me of a double ligero cigar, which in itself is not a bad thing, but I prefer more moderation in the bowl. While pleasingly strong and balanced at first, it builds up so much intensity that by the last third of the bowl, it's bitter and mouth-numbing. There are contradictory opinions about this blend, with some of our fellow enthusiasts considering it mild or flat, or comparing it to other popular, lighter fare. My opinion is similar to the blender's, whose tin description is accurate: Mr. Pease calls Odyssey his "biggest" mixture. Pay heed and proceed accordingly. I will stick with Greg's (relatively) lighter Balkans, which to me impart accessible levels of balance and complexity. When I want more punch, I'll smoke a stogie.

Just opened a 5 yo tin of this. Assertive Latakia tin aroma - earthy & leathery with a hint of Virginia "ketchup". Needs to air out a bit as it's a bit fussy to light right outta the tin. Latakia is dominant throughout the burn with tantalizing glimpses of the Oriental & Virginia leafs. Not overpowering on the tongue & didn't bite one bit! Wonderful thick, curly billows of creamy smokiness especially towards the bottom of the bowl - great for smoke rings. Definitely an after-dinner/before bed smoke for me as it gave me a good nicotine punch - I smoke mostly VaPers and Orientals. Getting a pound of this for the cellar as my main "English".

I think this is a good Balkan blend for Latakia lovers, "I think" because I don?t enjoy blends with Latakia as much as I do with straight Virginia or aromatic, I find they all taste the same (almost), the Latakia dominate the flavor and spoil the nuance and subtlety of Virginia or other.

I noticed that 90% of Pease blends are Latakia based, since I am already highly impressed by BC, I am going to try only the VA and Va/Per from this blender.

Update: Knocked it down a star, there are better offerings out there but it's still a solid smoke.

Odyssey and Maltese Falcon are very similar but they do have some differences. Odyssey is a little more complex than Maltese flacon is and it also has a more leathery type taste and scent where I feel maltese Falcon is slightly more sweet.

I'm a big fan of Greg's blends. While I haven't yet tried them all, I intend to do so. Typically every order from pipesandcigars has at least one Pease blend in the box.

This one missed the mark for me. I'm not experienced enough a smoker to say what all is happening with this tobacco, only enough to say that there is a lot... and all of it stops just short of harmony.

By all means, give it a try. If this was from any other than G.L. Pease I would rate it higher-- it doesn't suck. Because of his blends I've tried heretofore, I expect better. I expect harmony.

No doubt that on my own Pease odyssey I will encounter more blends that fall short for me personally, and I'm sure he won't mind the honest reviews.

The blend has a nice mixture of Latakia, and a great taste, if I can keep it lit. Compared to Dunhill's 965, it is more pleasant and tastes better all the way through, again if you can keep it lit. And that is my major beef with this blend.

It would have been stellar, less harsh than 965, with great flavor, but it doesn't burn well. I've tried various pipes and packing methods, but it just doesn't want to stay lit. You can chalk that up to user inexperience or a bad batch I don't know. But I'm going to stay away from this for a while.

This is a straight ahead English or Balkan blend, nothing too fancy. I haven't had the problem keeping it lit, don't know what the deal is with that, I guess your mileage may vary? At any rate this is not my favorite English blend, but it is a nice heavy latakia smoke.

Now, having said that, I was monkeying around with some Pease Embarcadero, which I really like a ton, but thought to myself that a little latakia mixed into it might be a good experiment. So I did about half and half Odyssey/Embarcadero. I lit it up and let me tell you, it was transcendent. I don't know what else to say, I think I just smoked the best pipe of tobacco I've ever had, and I've been smoking pipes for a while.

I'm smoking my second tin of Odyssey now and I just don't get it. Sometimes I get the right kind of English blend taste in the bottom half of the bowl, sometimes not ever. My favorite English/Balkan blends taste bittersweet with somewhat of a salty and herbal tang. What I get from Odyssey is just musty, sour and very dark range of aromas. It's as if this tobacco has been overtoasted to get rid of all the high notes, leaving just the fuzzy bass notes. The sour taste lingers in my mouth for hours. Now I have to get rid of three tins of this stuff that I bought after reading some reviews...(sigh).

All other GLP English blends taste better to me, with Charing Cross representing the top achievement and opposite of Odyssey, tastewise.

The first time I smoked this blend I remembered Sobranie 759. It's rich, cool, dark, smokey and delicious.

And yes, I do find it difficult to keep lit. I need to puff on the pipe often just to keep this lit, however, it doesn't bite me at all. I can usually finish 2/3 of the pipe at which point it goes out and relighting it becomes tiresome. That's fine for me since I smoke most blends that way. It is a very nice blend and I will always have a few tins availabe. I smoke this occasionally and enjoy it very much. Just like I did with the old 759 which, for me, was too rich for an everyday smoke.

Updated:

All the character I mentioned in the above review make this a great blend, but I am downgrading this review because I got tired of fighting to keep this tobacco lit. The burn quality of this tobacco is, in my experience, very poor.

BriarChef....you're a true gentleman and my apologies to you also! We can all play in the same sandbox now :-)

With all due respect to fellow reviewers?.I can?t find myself to rate this tobacco higher. I just can?t get a good burn out of it and didn?t find the taste that spectacular. I will update my review after giving it a few more months of aging. We?ll see?.

Having read the reviews on Odyssey, I thought I'd give it a whirl. My reason is I've been terribly loyal to Dunhill, but my prudent reserves are no longer prudent nor considered reserves. Odyssey is one fine English/Balkan blend- really wonderful. From Pease's description it is a full flavored blend. OK, I'm up for it. For the implement I reamed and cleaned an old and loyal Comoy Prince with a bowl, wide like a pot. Though full and spicy, for me it is the Virginia sweetness that makes this blend so lovely. Please note the sweetness is not contrived, and never got on my nerves. The smoke is thick like heavy cream. If you're looking for an English tobacco of magnificent depth try this blend now. Each subsequent bowl has gotten better and better. And yet, with the Comoy being wide-mouthed and the tobacco cut so coarse, lighting and smoking was a breeze, contrary to several posts. Go figure? Enjoy another fine tobacco, and check out its wow factor.

This used to be my favorite Pease blend, until I tried Westminster, which is now not only my favorite Pease, but my favorite English ever.

The taste and quality of Odyssey is extremely good, and it´s mineral, earthy taste is unsurpassable, but I agree, however, with gorealestate that it is VERY DIFFICULT to keep lit. At first I thought it was due to a personal lack of skill, so I took it to a Pipe Club meeting where there were many expert smokers, even contest winning ones, and even they had great difficulties with Odyssey.

This was such an annoying drawback that I stopped smoking it after managing to finish the second tin. Nevertheless, if you are very patient and don´t have problems with wasting whole bottles of butane gas, you have to try this mixture.

The search for the best English continues. Or is this a Balkan? Don't know. At any rate, Odyssey is huge...... and wet. Most of the good things mentioned about this blend are true. Some of the negatives are as well. It is hard to keep lit. The last half of the bowl starts to go a little sour on me. Is it my smoking style, the moisture level or something else? Once again, don't know. What I do know is that this reminds me a little of Penzance and I don't have that problem when smoking it. I like Latakia, but I'm not sure if I want it to be the dominant ingredient.

Odyssey is less herbish campfire and more musty leather. Smoke this one in a car or closed room, then come back later and it will smell like a wet dog. That shouldn't stop you from smoking it though. You still love that old dog of yours even if he did get left out in the rain right?

Odyssey really breaks my heart. I can tell there is potential there, but I simply cannot make this stuff burn to my satisfaction. After two and one half 2oz tins, I have yet to unlock the secret to keeping a bowl lit properly. At best, I can get half a bowl to burn nicely, and then the taste is superb. But the bottom quarter or so simply refuses. And so I dump it, my tongue exhausted and my spirit broken.

I'm not sure Odyssey deserves it's top billing. Try it, but don't be too surprised. Read other reviews and I think you'll find my experience is not unique.

Great tin aroma with heavy latakia, but I found the smoke to be a bit too strong for my tastes. I hate these types of reviews because my rating is probably more due to not enjoying strong tobaccos than the quality of this blend. Either way, it did smoke very cool, although it was very difficult to light and keep lit.

This blend has obviously been reviewed a great deal so I will not linger long. It is indeed difficult to keep lit and that would be the only real downside. It is dark and delicious and definitely worth a try for the latakia lover. There is a subtle soapy undertone but nothing to interfere with enjoyment.

UPDATE 5-01-13: This blend did not hold up for me and I must remove a star.

Good burning properties are important to me. So, it's a shame to spend $8 or so for a blend like Odyssey and then have to spend another $8 of your time just to try to keep it lit.

After 1 hour, 4 hours and then 24 hours of drying time, Odyssey simply would not stay lit for me, despite several attempted packs and several different pipes. I'm not sure what's going on - perhaps I got a "bad" tin, but really, considering the price point and the concept of "small batch blending", quality control should be better here. Much better.

I'm something of a Pease fan and I smoked a fair amount of Caravan a few years back and came to love that blend - it burned well and was simply a marvelous Balkan with lots of complexity.

I haven't re-visited Caravan in awhile, but my experience with Odyssey, or at least with this particular version of Odyssey, must surely be an "oddity", considering the blend's popularity on this site and the blender's stellar reputation.

At the Chicago pipe show, a few buddies and I pitched in and bought a five-year old tin, curious to see what aging does to a blend.

Lord, it does a lot!

The latakia mellows out some and smells a bit musty (in a good way). When this aged tin is gone, I'll be a sad man. Makes one wonder what five years in a tin would do to Ashbury, Charing Cross, or Westminster. (I'm going to Iwan Ries to buy some tins so that I can find out what six months or so does to them!)

Recommended in its standard form, but if you age it some, highly, highly recommended!

I tried this as a change from Dunhill 965 and London Mixture. I don't particularly like the large leaf but this is a high quality blend. It does stay in the mouth long after the bowl. This is a cool smoke and is full of my beloved latakia. I'm not giving up the Dunhills, but this will enter my regular rotation. If you like the English blends then this is for you. Recommeded.

This is a very rich Latakia blend. Like all GLP, we have a quality leaf here,however this is strictly for latakia fanatics. In addition to the rich oriental undertones i detect some bitterness that leaves you with a tarnished pallette.

After reading many multi star rated reviews I decided I just had to try this stuff. All I can say is this certainly does not fit my bill for a great tasteing tobacco. It was like smoking a dirty sock. Not that I ever have but what one would think it would taste like. My wife was not happy with the room note at all, and she normally loves for me to smoke my pipe.

Odyssey has an intimidating line up of positive reviews but I have to say I found it didn't (quite) live up to the hype. Sometimes, of course, a legendary tobacco has more to live up to. Maybe that is influencing me or perhaps I don't gel with heavy latikia blends (although I love a full English like Penzance). I found it tasted very "young" out of the tin and even, dare I say it, "bitey." This was not due to over- puffing, I found it burned quite cool, but there was a sharpness to it that grated against the orientals. Some age in the tin would no doubt cure that. I also found that Odyssey left my mouth feeling dirty and "furry." I had to reach for the industrial strength toothpaste afterward and even the next morning the latakia ghost was still in my mouth! Some wisened old latakia-heads will no doubt enjoy this but it was too much for me.

Mr Pease is as close as a "rockstar" in tobacco blending as you can get. He seems to have a freakish talent given his age. I enjoy his writing and philosophies of life and this will not put me off trying his other blends; but this one comes with the caveat "for latakia addicts only."

I originally reviewed Odyssey on 04 August 2006. This update removes that original review for various reasons. In this update, I must say that Odyssey tastes quite wonderful indeed. It is mild yet full-bodied. '[L]oaded with Latakia and harmonized by exotic Orientals' is no exaggeration. This could easily be a three or four star tobacco, but as much as I enjoy the 'huge' flavour it is a bloody chore to smoke (frequent relights are commonplace). I will undoubtedly continue to smoke this blend and will update my star rating should newer tins provide a better smoking experience.

I'm giving Odyssey 4 stars, not because I smoke it a great deal, but becuase, by any standard it is a great tobacco. I enjoy full latakia blends infrequently, but when I do, this is the one. Much more to my liking on a regular basis, are the Dark Lord's Renaissance and Kensington.

This is truly great stuff. I don?t know what to add that hasn?t been said already. Rich with Latakia and full of flavor. I prefer the Pease blends that contain Syrian Latakia, like Renaissance and Raven?s Wing. Nevertheless this is a wonderful blend that I plan to stock up on.

I can see how some might like this blend but I found this one too thick and rich for my tastes. I found it to be an interesting break from the norm but I won't buy more of this. It burned well and produced a thick smoke but was simply not a good tasting tobacco to me. I like the flavor of Dunhill Nightcap, Barabary Coast, Haddo's, and Virginia Flakes but, this one's flavor did not agree with me.

I think that this is a great Latakia-centric blend. Which seems to imply that it just isn't for me. But, I purchased a tin and tried it out. The quality of the leaf is high, moisture seems right. But, the latakia is overbearing for me, personally.

It's a big, bold blend. I can see where lovers of latakia would really enjoy Odyssey.

I really wasnt all that fond of this blend. I smoked it a couple of times over a few days and there was something in it I wasnt too keen about. I think it may have been the amount of Latakia. I dont like Latakia anyway. It was a little like Fog Morton On the Town, only stronger. My wife didnt like the smell much. She said it smelled like damp wood burning. I will try this blend later to see if my tastes change, but I dont believe it is for the new smoker.

This tobacco is cabable of great results, a super Balkan if you got everything right. Right pipe, right packing and right pace. But out of the tin I managed to get 2 bowls when I thought wow this is the the one. Maybe it needs a much longer chance to get this one mastered. But in a way I feel it is something of a highly strung throughbred. Life may be to short to make sure you have got everything right to get the best out of this diva.

Does anyone make a tobacco that comes right out of the tin any better than Mr Pease? While I have not been a great fan of some of his blends, I must say that they are perfectly cut and are at just the right moisture right out of the can.

At first I did not like Oddysey for the same reason that I did not like Caravan- somehow it just gave me a mineral kind of taste that I did not like. In fact, I gave away the last half of my first can. After so many rave reviews, I decided that, for the first time in my life, I acknowledged the possibility that I might be wrong and all the others right. I tried another can. While I will not rave about it like some of the others, I now admit it is a pretty good Balkan. I do not find the range of flavors in it as in my memories of Balkan Sobranie 759, nor does it change flavor going down the bowl as 759 did, but it is still an excellent Balkan. I find myself enjoying it more as I acclimate myself to it, so maybe its a matter of smoking it at the right pace to bring out the best qualities.

I have an unopened can of Caravan in the stash, so maybe I'll change my negative review of it once I've gone through that can.